Just as friends, obviously
by ofwingsandthings
Summary: Modern AU where Arya is 17 and Gendry 22. In which Ned Stark finds Arya's car missing at an early hour in the morning, and is told that she is probably at Gendry's, leading to some very uncomfortable misunderstandings and a string of events that will change their relationship forever.
1. Chapter 1

Arya Stark sat perched in her window seat, absentmindedly nibbling away at the chipped black nail polish on her fingernails while flipping through her biology text book, trying not to think about how much better life would be if she burned the damn thing.

"Out," she snapped, not even looking up. Her half brother, Jon, gave a sputter of disbelief.

"How did you even hear me?" He demanded. "I wore extra thick socks and applied every ninja skill I posses. I swear you have a hidden camera somewhere."

"No hidden camera," she said, turning a page in her book, "just saw your reflection in the window."

"Unbelievable," Jon said with a chuckle. "No wonder you're so good at sneaking out."

"Yeah, and no wonder you're so bad at it. Tell me, has there even been one time you were successful before _mom_ caught you?" she snorted, giving her older brother a patronizing look. Jon crossed his arms, looking smug.

"What?" Arya demanded, knowing that look only meant trouble.

"It's just... I wouldn't really be bragging if I were you," he said casually, admiring the set of pictures on her dresser.

"What?" she said, more sharply this time, snapping her book closed.

"Dad came home from the conference early," Jon said with a smile as Arya's face began to turn white. "Five in the morning, to be precise. And your car wasn't there."

"Fuck!" she shrieked, tossing the book aside and leaping for her shoes, which were strewn about the room.

"He wasn't too pleased to say the least, wanted to talk to you this morning, but Robert called him in, so he had to leave," Jon said, and she noted with dissatisfaction the look of amusement on his face.

"Where is he?" She demanded through gritted teeth, forcing her red high tops on and then racing to her closet, snatching out a jean jacket.

"You know where he is," Jon said, giving her a pointed look.

"YOU TOLD HIM?" She screeched.

"No," Jon said at once, "I'm not a snitch. It was Sansa."

"Just wait 'till I get my hands on her," Arya muttered darkly, fishing around her bag for her car keys. "She is so dead."

"Yeah, and Gendry will be too if you don't hurry," Jon said seriously. "Go save his life, will you? He said I could use his flat this weekend."

"Yeah right," Arya scoffed, already half way out the door, "like _any_ of us are getting out of the house after this."

And with that, she sprinted out of the house, leaped into her car and speed like mad towards the Forge.

Work had never been Gendry's favorite thing, but going to work with a massive hangover was torture. His head pounding, he decided to take a well deserved break, ducking into the dark, cool office for a moments peace without the blaring of cheesy 80's music his boss, Yoren, insisted was 'the classics.'

It wasn't that he didn't like his job, Gendry told himself as he sat down in Yoren's chair, closing his eyes. In fact, he loved his job. He loved working with metal, with cars. The Forge was his home (it was true, he spent more time there than his apartment, which seemed to be constantly occupied by a different Stark family member anyway, non of which was the one he _actually_ wanted to be there). The complaining voice inside his head was probably the hangover.

He let out a groan in spite of himself. He hadn't meant to get pissed, he _really_ hadn't. But his dad just drove him to such madness that the only thing that seemed to quench the rage inside him was alcohol.

Robert Baratheon, of Stag industries, the even mention of him made Gendry want to vomit. He hated him, the man who was famous for sleeping around and being a fat drunk, but still managed to be the most powerful and rich man around. The man who hadn't even bothered to help out his mom with child support when he had millions and she was scrapping just to fed them. The man who hadn't even _bothered_ to come to her _funeral_. Even now it filled him with a boiling rage.

Lucky Arya had been there though. She always had a habit of finding him out. Sometimes he wondered if she had installed an ankle bracelet on him or something, because it seemed that once he got even the slightest bit of alcohol in himself, she was there, keys in hand, ready to drive him home because he couldn't drive himself. Somehow, she just always _knew_. He didn't question it. It sort of came with the best friend category.

She never spent the night though. Usually she just dumped him on his doorstep without so much as a goodbye. But this morning had been different. He had been shocked when he woke up, face sticking to the leather of his couch, to see her in his flat, perched on the top of his sofa chair, looking through his CD's.

He had groaned, pulling himself up, his mouth tasting foul as he wiped the stream of drool from his face. As his eyes adjusted, he noticed she hadn't just been rifling through his CD's, but his collection of video games as well. They were scattered on the floor around her, along with some of his CD's. She kept chucking them over her shoulder.

"Not bad," she said idly, lazily depositing another CD on the floor. Gendry blinked, rubbing his eyes.

"Whatareyoudoinghere?" he moaned, barely understandable, his tongue dry in his mouth. She didn't answer, but instead flipped over one of his CD cases, reading the back.

"Coffee's almost ready," she said instead, setting that CD aside.

Gendry blinked again, narrowing his eyes at her. Was that his band shirt she was wearing?

"What are you doing here?" He asked again, this time more clearly.

"You seemed pretty pissed," she said, shrugging and hopping off the chair, "I wanted to make sure you were okay."

Sighing, he got to his feet, staggering a bit.

"Don't lie," he said, practically crawling to the kitchenette, "you've left me on my doorstep in worse conditions. I remember one time I passed out at a party and woke up on my doorstep, literally on the doorstep. You could have dragged me inside, you know."

She let out a long sigh.

"Fine," she snapped curtly. "I stayed because I knew what day it was."

"Oh? And what day was that?" He demanded, pouring himself a cup of coffee.

"The day your mum died three years ago."

The words hit him harder than he had expected. He was surprised, and almost touched that she had remembered. He was even more surprised, and still more touched that she had taken it upon herself to look after him. It was almost something a girlfrien-

"You've got some impressive collections," Arya said, quickly changing the subject and hoping up onto a barstool.

"Yeah?" He said, taking a sip of coffee. "What other stuff have you been through?"

"Just your porn collection."

He spat the coffee all over her face, nearly dropping the cup, coughing madly, as she let out a yell of disgust, leaping from the barstool to avoid his spray.

"You WHAT?"

"Oh yuck! Gendry you idiot!" She yelled, shaking coffee off her arms and running to get a towel to wipe herself off.

"THAT'S PRIVATE!" Gendry shouted, snatching back the towel to wipe off the counter, his face burning with humiliation.

"Oh honestly," she snapped, shaking droplets of coffee off his band shirt, "it wasn't like I was looking for it. I just went to your dresser to look for something to change into for bed and it was just _there_."

He couldn't even look at her he was so humiliated. Sometimes, he just wanted to kill Arya Stark.

"Don't look so embarrassed," she said, sounding almost put out. "Yours isn't nearly as bad as Jon's."

"Jon's?" Gendry choked out, still coughing slightly.

"Yeah, remember when he took that purity pledge? It was the worst. He was in such a bad mood all the time. Anyway, I went to burrow a sweater from him one time, and I happened across it. Honestly! If you lot don't want it to be found, you should hide it better. At least put it under the bed or something! Mum found it a week later. You should have heard the screaming," Arya said very quickly, a mischievous glint in her eyes. Gendry couldn't help it, he chuckled.

"You should have seen it," she said. "You would have laughed. Robb, Bran and I took the mickey out him for ages until he hooked up with Ygritte."

"Yeah, I bet you did," Gendry said into his coffee, taking another swig.

"I won't do that to you though," she said at once, almost sounding frightened.

"S'all right," Gendry sighed, waving her off. "Maybe you've just given me the solution to my problem. Maybe I just need to be like Jon and get myself a girlfriend."

He had meant it as a joke, so he hadn't expected to look up and see Arya looking furious with herself, glaring at him. An awkward silence settled in, and he had no clue what to say, but then she seemed to shake whatever was bothering her off.

"Whatever," she said dismissively. "I should get going. My Dad's coming home this afternoon from his business trip in King's Landing, and I don't think he'd enjoy knowing I spent the night at some strange man's house, even if I'm seventeen."

"Especially since you're seventeen, I reckon," Gendry said, tipping his coffee cup to her before padding to the fridge in search of food.

"I made you some toast," she said curtly as she walked towards his room, where her cloths probably were. "I'd have made you eggs, but you said they make you sick when you're hungover."

It had been good toast too, and had stayed down. As he sighed in the cool of the office, Gendry couldn't help but wonder why he had chosen to wear this shirt, as it still reeked of coffee, so much so that it was making his head spin.

Suddenly, the door to the office banged open and Gendry let out a yell, leaping to his feet so violently that he almost fell over.

"Are you Gendry Waters?" A cold voice asked, and Gendry felt his heart drop.

He was face to face with Eddard Stark, the head of the Wolf branch in Stag industries. Right-hand man to his father, Robert Baratheon.

Gendry had never met Ned, funnily enough. His father never invited him to anything, not even family holiday gatherings. There was a real possibility that Ned had no clue that Gendry was even Robert's son, but if that were the case, then why would he be here? And why would he be looking so murderous? Gendry knew it couldn't be good, whatever the case.

He also knew it would be a very, very bad idea to lie and say no, Ned Stark must be mistaken, he was not Gendry Waters. Ned was respected and loved, and had a reputation for being a good man, but he also had a reputation for being a man that was not to be trifled with.

"Yes," Gendry croaked out, feeling his tongue suddenly incapable of working properly.

Ned's eyes sparked in fury.

"You!" he shouted. "Keep your filthy, perverted hands off my daughter!"

Gendry jumped as Ned jabbed his finger at him, as if to run him through. He almost felt it to, a pang in his chest as his heart beat wildly.

"Sir, there's no need, I can explain-"

"You can explain nothing!" Ned Stark roared, effectively cutting Gendry off. "You'll be lucky if I don't press charges, you sick bastard! Do you know how old she is?"

"Seventeen," Gendry said before he could stop himself, instantly regretting it.

"Seventeen!" Ned Stark bellowed, loud enough to wake the dead. "And I will not have some greasy, uneducated-"

"I'm not uneducated!" Gendry shouted, his temper flaring as well.

"-white-trash loser violating her!"

"DAD!"

Both men whipped around to see Arya standing in the door way of the office looking murderous. Behind her all the workers in the shop had gathered around, craning to see what was going on.

"Is there a problem here, sir?" Yoren asked, poking his head in, giving Gendry a questioning look. Gendry shook his head.

"No," Arya snapped before her father could answer. "This will only take up a moment of Gendry's time, if that's all right."

"S'ppose," Yoren said, shooting Gendry another regretful look before slouching out, glaring at Ned Stark as he did so, no doubt perturbed that his afternoon nap had been disturbed.

"Dad," Arya said quickly, "don't be mad."

"Don't be mad?" Ned Stark raged, shooting daggers at Gendry. "Don't be mad?"

"Oh honestly Dad! It's nothing!"

"NOTHING?" Ned Stark bellowed, his voice ringing in Gendry's ears. "Your safety is not nothing!"

"We're not having sex, if that's what you're worried about," Arya said flippantly, crossing her arms over her chest. Her father gave a visible wince at the word 'sex'.

"Yeah," Gendry said quickly, cutting in, "and I'd never ever think of Arya in that way anyway. I have a girlfriend."

It was a lie, obviously, both parts, but he figured it could only help him in his case that Ned Stark should not kill him because he had not touched Arya. No matter how much he sometimes wanted to. No, not that last part. Definitely not that last part. What was he even thinking? It was probably the hangover again.

He had thought that Arya would be pleased with him for coming up with something so clever (it was working too, Ned Stark was looking increasingly relieved), but she wasn't. There was no mistaking the look of hurt and betrayal that flashed across her face.

"You do?" Ned Stark said, rocking back on his feet and almost loosing about four inches in height, even letting a ghost of a relieved smile pass over his face.

"Yeah," Arya said quietly, shifting from foot to foot and looking down, "we're just friends."

"Friends?" Ned Stark repeated, as if seeing whether or not he liked the taste.

"Yeah," Gendry said. "Yeah, umm actually, it's sort of funny, but Robert Baratheon's my dad."

Ned had the good grace to look embarrassed.

"Of course he is!" he said. "I'm sorry, I came down here in such a hurry, I really only had one thing on my mind, which reminds me, Arya, where were you last night?"

Arya's eyes flickered to Gendry.

"I umm, had a little too much to drink," she lied easily. "Gendry took me back to his place to sleep it off. Nothing happened Dad, I swear. I'm still a virgin, you can check."

Ned blanched and Gendry felt his cheeks explode in a blush. She was a virgin? Well, it figured, she'd never had a boyfriend. Still, it was easy to forget that Arya often acted like she knew more than she did.

"I don't think that's necessary," Ned said hastily, frowning, "but Arya, we've talked about this. You promised me you wouldn't drink anymore."

She shrugged.

"I slipped up," she said, refusing to look at Gendry.

Ned sighed.

"I have half a mind to ground you," he said, causing Arya to look distressed, "but I doubt that'll do any good. You'll just sneak out anyway. So I'll make a compromise. You have to go to prom-"

"No! Dad!"

"-and you have to go to the awards banquet, AND the end of the year banquet!"

"UGH!" Arya cried out, stamping her feet comically. "DAD!"

Ned looked like he was fighting the urge to laugh.

"I'm sorry sweetheart," he said, "maybe this will convince you to keep your promises."

There was an awkward silence where Gendry desperately tried to catch Arya's eye, to silently thank her, but she was avoiding his gaze.

"Well," Ned Stark said, clapping his hands with a sense of awkwardness and bravado, "Gendry, I'm sure you have to get back to work."

"Yes," Gendry said, running a hand through his matted black hair.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you," Ned said, looking embarrassed. "It's obvious that you're, erm, a good friend to Arya."

"Yeah," Gendry said stupidly, "yeah we're good mates."

Arya gave a snort of laughter which she quickly disguised as a cough.

"Well," Ned said, putting a hand on his daughter's back to steer her out, "we best be off. Nice to meet you, Gendry."

"Same," Gendry said, cursing himself again for sounding like such a dolt. Ned gave him an incredulous look as he left, as though he couldn't quiet believe his clever, quick-witted daughter chose to hand around a dirty mechanic.

_You aren't the only one, _Gendry thought, rubbing his hands over his face. _You aren't the only one_


	2. Chapter 2

"You're angry with me."

"Fuck off."

Sansa ignored her, walking into the room like it was her own and plopping down at the bed. Arya rolled her eyes and let out a furious huff, glaring at her sister over her biology textbook. It seemed like every force in the world was trying to get her to avoid her homework.

"I didn't mean to rat you out, you know," Sansa said, undeterred.

"I thought I told you to get out of my room," Arya snarled, turning away from her pretty sister. Sansa flicked her long, beautiful auburn hair over her shoulder and picked at her perfectly manicured nails.

"No, you told me to fuck off," Sansa corrected, giving her a simpering look. "And I ignored you.

"Ugh, you're the most annoying bitch I've ever met! Leave me alone!" Arya groaned, slamming her forehead into her biology textbook.

"I had no idea Dad would take it that way-"

"-You had no idea? Are you stupid?" Arya shouted, instantly regretting it as she saw the look of hurt flower across her sisters face.

"Anyone who spends two seconds with you knows Gendry doesn't see you like that," she protested feebly, picking at the flowers stitched onto her skirt. Arya felt her stomach sink lower, a feat she hadn't thought possible.

"Do you have _any idea_ how _humiliating_ that was?" Arya sighed softly into her knees. Sansa didn't say anything for a long time.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. "I guess... I guess I did do it on purpose."

Arya raised her head, mouth gaping open in shock. Sansa refused to look up, but instead seemed to be fascinated with the folds of her skirt.

"On purpose?" Arya demanded.

"It's not fair," Sansa said in a very small voice, "the way he treats you. He always lets you get away with everything. He loves you more than he does me. Everyone knows it."

Arya felt herself open and close her mouth, but no sound came out. There was just no way to attack Sansa for that.

"That's not true," she said after a long silence, but her hesitation spoke volumes. "You know Dad loves each of us equally."

Sansa gave a small smile, but didn't seem convinced.

"You should be pleased with yourself then," Arya said briskly, "he's punished me. I have to go to prom, and the awards banquet, and the end of the year banquet."

"Really?" Sansa asked, brightening considerably. "That's great!"

"Great for you, maybe," Arya muttered darkly. "I hate dressing up."

"But prom Arya! This is my last year before I'm off to university! You'll get to go with me!" Sansa said, clasping her hands, and though she was near squealing, it was obvious she was trying to hide her excitement. Arya felt a pang of guilt. When they were younger, Sansa was the one who was always pushing Arya down, and now, as they were older, it was obvious Sansa wanted to repair their scattered relationship. It was even more painfully obvious that Arya had no interest in doing so.

"And Jeoffry," Arya said in disgust, the mere mention of him tasting foul on her tongue as she wrinkled her nose with distaste.

Sansa sighed.

"He's my boyfriend, Arya," she said for what seemed to be the millionth time.

"That doesn't mean he deserves you," Arya snarled. "The only thing that little twat deserves is pig shit."

"ARYA!"

"Don't look so upset," Arya snapped, "I can't believe you're dating him. I can't believe that Dad approves of _him _and not Gendry!"

"Jeoffry is only a year older than me," Sansa said pointedly. "Gendry's what, five years older than you? And besides, he's not your boyfriend."

Arya seriously considered rolling her eyes. How many times was she going to be reminded that Gendry wasn't her boyfriend? Five million?

"Whatever," Arya shot back, "just because Jeoffry's your age doesn't mean he's a good person. Far from it. Do you remember what he called me on my sixteenth birthday?"

"You asked for it," Sansa protested. "You really shouldn't have dumped the entire bowl of punch on his head!"

"Gendry would have thought it was funny," Arya said softly, "and now I'm never going to get to hang out with him again, probably ever."

Sansa gave her a smile.

"What?"

"I might be able to help with that," she said.

"How?"

"I sort of took a bat to one of your headlights."

"What?" Arya shouted. "How is that helping anything?"

"Well, now you'll have to take it into the shop," Sansa said with a shrug, standing up and casually brushing herself off. Giving Arya a wink, she swished out of the room, looking immensely pleased with herself.

_Effective_, Arya thought, _and clever too. A bit expensive, but effective non the less._

Whether she liked it or not, Arya was impressed.

oooooooooooooo

"You know what the secret is to a great cherry pie?"

"No, and I don't care either."

"You _crush_ the cherries, to really get out the flavor and-"

"Hot Pie," Gendry said, pushing himself out from under the car he was working on so that he could look his friend in the face, "I don't care."

"Fine," the fat young man said. "Fuck you. You've been in a bad mood for days now, ever since Ned Stark had a go at you."

"Could you just piss off?" Gendry asked, throughly irritated. "I have a job to do, you know."

Hot Pie stuffed the rest of his lemon tart in his mouth and then flipped Gendry off, getting up to leave.

"Fine with me," Hot Pie snapped, "I don't want to hang around with you anyway. You're acting like a fucking pansy."

Gendry rolled his eyes and pushed himself back under the car, glad for some peace and quiet at last. Well, maybe not quiet. Yoren had his favorite tunes on full blast.

It seemed like only a second had passed when suddenly Yoren was sticking his greasy face under the car, scaring Gendry half to death.

"Get up you sorry son of a whore," he barked. "You've got company."

"Company?" Gendry said, incredulous.

"Business," Yoren clarified. "Hurry up."

And with that he was gone, probably off to smoke a joint. Gendry let out a long sigh. Who could be asking for him? Not Ned Stark. He prayed it wasn't Ned Stark.

Nerves getting the better of him, Gendry pushed himself out from under the car and stood up, brushing himself off. Catching a glimpse of himself in the window, he swore softly. Covered in grease and sweat, he was the very embodiment of what Ned had accused him of being: a dirty, uneducated, lowlife.

But when he walked out into the sunlight of the parking lot in front of the Forge, his heart jumped in shock. Arya sat her in car, wearing a pair of her favorite shades, leaning out of the window and smiling at him.

"What?" He said stupidly, and though her eyes were covered, she knew she was rolling them. "I mean, what are you doing here? I though your Dad banned you."

"Awww, did the big bad wolf scare you?" Arya said, lowering her sunglasses and jutting out her lower lip. "Actually, if I remember correctly, my punishment was to go to a series of awful events, not stop being your friend. Besides, my tail light's out, so technically, I'm not here for you."

"Ahh," Gendry said, going round her car to inspect the damage. "Jesus! It isn't out, someone's smashed it in!"

"Yeah," Arya sighed, laying her head on her arms, "Sansa thought it might get me back in her good graces."

Gendry laughed.

"You have one twisted sister," he chuckled. "How the hell did she figure smashing in your light was going to get you to stop being mad at her?"

"She knew it'd be an excuse to come see you," Arya said, shrugging. Gendry didn't say anything. It was actually a smart idea.

"I know, right? I was impressed," Arya said. "Who knew Sansa was cunning?"

"Learn something new everyday," Gendry echoed with a snort of laughter. "Well, drive her in and we'll take a look."

Once they had Arya's car in the shop, Gendry cleaned up the tail light and put a new one in while Arya sat on the hood of the car, tapping her foot to the music.

"Do you want to hang around? Or do you have someplace to be?" Gendry asked when he finished.

Arya shrugged.

"Hang around, I guess," she said.

"All right, but I've got to finish this one car, do you mind?" He said, pointing over to the car he had been working on earlier. She shrugged again.

Looking at her out of the corner of his eye, he realized that she seemed a bit down. Arya was usually snappier than this, or at least more talkative. How many words had she said to him? Five? Was she angry with him?

As he pushed himself under the car again, he tried to rack his brain for anything he could have said to make her angry. He thought back to the argument with Ned Stark, there was a moment where she had looked upset, now what was it? Oh yeah! When he mentioned that he had a girlfriend!

"I don't have a girlfriend," Gendry said, pushing himself out again so he could look up at Arya, who was leaning against the car, "if that's what you're angry about."

"I'm not angry," she snapped, sliding down the car to sit down. "Why would I care if you have a girlfriend or not?"

"You wouldn't care?" Gendry said, feeling slightly put out.

"No," she said, giving him an indignant look.

"I'd care if you had a boyfriend and didn't tell me," Gendry said before he could stop himself. Cursing inwardly, he tried to pull it off as a nonchalant thing, shrugging.

"You would?" She was shocked.

"Well, yeah," Gendry said, running a hand through his black hair, shrugging again, "you're my best friend. It'd feel a bit weird if you didn't tell me about it."

"Oh, yeah, right," she said. Did she... Did she almost sound disappointed?

He pushed himself back under the car, and to his surprise, she scooted under as well, wiggling on her back until she was next to him, their shoulders brushing. Gendry felt his heart starting to pound, but he brushed it off.

"It's quiet down here," she said softly after a while, and when he looked over at her, she had her eyes closed.

"Yeah, it's nice," he said. "Helps me think."

"Well, anything to help you think," she teased, elbowing him in the side.

"Thanks a lot," Gendry snapped, the words her father had said day before echoing in his mind. "I do take some classes at university, you know."

"Don't listen to what my Dad said," Arya murmured, and out of the corner of his eye he could see her looking at him, "he was just angry."

It was amazing, he thought, how easily she could read his mind, but then again, they'd been friends for nearly six years now, ever since the party at the Wall.

The Wall had always been a sketch place, but it seemed that every kid within fifty miles had been to it at one point or another. For some reason, it was _the_ place to party. The place to party, that is, if you were a boy. No girls allowed.

So naturally, Arya had to crash it.

She was only nine at the time, and even in present time, Gendry had to admire her guts. All sorts of crazy shit happened at the Wall. Fights were inevitable, as well as illegal drug use and massive consumption of alcohol. When Gendry was a teenager, it was the perfect place to vent out his rage at his father. Beating the shit out of some twat always made him feel better than booze did.

The night they met, Arya had been in over her head. It wasn't surprising either. Actually, it was surprising that she hadn't got herself raped, but then again, the majority of the people at the Wall were idiots.

When he had first seen her, he had thought she was a boy, she had certainly disguised herself well, with the short bob and dirty t-shirt and scrawny build, but he wasn't drunk yet, and he wasn't stupid. There was just something about Arya that didn't fit.

And then he saw someone push her to the ground. A fat kid, and then another one, they were ganging up on her! Cowardly twats!

But to his surprise, she leapt up, a little knife appearing out of nowhere, pointed at the fat kids chin. And she was threatening him.

"... I bet you're a liar, but I'm not," she snarled, looking incredibly deadly for a nine-year-old. "I like killing fat boys."

And that's when the fat kid ran into Gendry.

He turned around, saw Gendry, who was already tall for his age, and, when he wanted to be, sufficiently menacing, and gulped, looking near to shitting his pants. Hot Pie had never looked stupider.

"Oh you like picking on the little ones, do you?" Gendry snarled, advancing on Hot Pie, who started to break out in a sweat.

"No-!"

"I'll tell you something, I've beaten guys twice your size bloody, had huge blokes screaming when I hit them. Are you going to scream when I hit you?"

"No," Hot Pie croaked, looking horrified.

"Oh piss off you twats," Gendry snapped, and no sooner had the words left his mouth, then they were gone. That left him alone with the little girl and her knife.

"That's good quality," Gendry said, examining the blade. "Where'd you get it?"

"It was a gift," she said, giving him a throughly distrustful look.

"What, was it from your boyfriend?" Gendry asked, enjoying the look of horror on her face.

"I don't have a boyfriend! I'm... I'm a boy!" She protested, but her eyes were wide and the lie was very unconvincing.

"No, you're not, do you think I'm as stupid as the rest of them?" Gendry asked, laughing. She glared at him.

"Stupider."

"You know, you really shouldn't insult people bigger than you are," he informed her, trying very hard not to laugh anymore.

"Then I wouldn't get to insult anyone," she said, frowning. He roared with laughter again.

"I'm Gendry," he said, extending his hand. "Gendry Waters."

She gave his hand a dubious look, as if not sure whether it would bite her or not, but then she looked at him, and something passed over her face, something must have told her that he was all right, because she nodded and shook his hand.

"Arya Stark."

"Gendry?" Her voice, in the present day, floated into his mind, breaking him from his reveries. "You're not thinking too much about what my Dad said, are you?"

"No," he said. "I mean, I was, but just now I was thinking of how we met. Do you remember?"

"How could I forget?" She laughed. "Hot Pie was such a twat then."

"He was," Gendry agreed, "but he turned out all right."

"Did he? Why do we even keep him around anyway?" Arya asked, snorting with laughter.

"The food," they both chorused, and then chuckled. _And because, if it was just you and me, we'd be far too couple-y for me to pretend you're just my friend_, Gendry thought to himself, allowing his eyes to linger on her face, turned upwards towards the underside of the car. _And that would be disastrous_


	3. Chapter 3

**Note: So I just realized that I've been spelling Joffrey's name wrong, which is really embarrassing, so I apologize. No matter how many times I read his name, I can never remember how to spell it correctly. Don't worry, from now on it'll be right and I'll go back and edit it when I have more time. Also, I apologize for the short length of the chapter. Next one will be longer, promise.**

_**Summary: In which Arya greatly dislikes dress shopping and asks Gendry a very important favor.**_

"No!"

"Arya please-"

"NO."

"Arya Stark! That's quite enough!"

Arya sighed, shrinking lower in her seat, taking her drink and sipping noisily from her straw as her mother glared at her from across the table at the mall's cafeteria, her gaze enough to send Arya into silence. Sansa stared into her bowl of soup, and though she looked dejected, she also looked annoyed. Guilty, Arya pretended to be very absorbed in her soda.

"Stop being such a child," Sansa snapped. "It's only one night!"

Arya sighed and sat her drink down grumpily.

"I'm not acting like a child," she said, but that even sounded childish to her, "I just don't see why you have to torture me more than you already are."

"I would hardly call asking you to go to the dance with Sansa in your own private limo is torture," Catelyn Stark said sternly, giving her daughter another disappointed look. "Some girls would be thrilled."

"Yeah, some, who don't know what a little jerk Joffrey is," Arya muttered, not daring to look up. Had her mother not been there, Arya would have referred to Jofrrey as a little shit, but seeing as Catelyn Stark was looking prepared for murder as it was, Arya was profoundly glad she had refrained from calling Jeoffry a harsher, yet infinitely more accurate word. She could hear both Sansa and her mother give a sharp intake of breath simultaneously.

"He's my boyfriend Arya!" Sansa said loudly, slamming her spoon down, fed up.

"Yeah, and he's a-"

"Speaking of dates," Catelyn said, cutting them both off before they could get into a fight, "have you gotten one yet, Arya?"

Arya let out another long sigh.

"No," she said through gritted teeth, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Well, is there anyone you'd like to go with?" Catelyn pressed, nodding encouragingly, a hopeful and almost desperate look on her face.

_Yes._

"No."

"You know, the Dane's have a really sweet boy about your age," Catelyn said, giving Arya an encouraging smile. "Maybe I could have a word with his mum and see if he'd go with you."

"If he's so sweet, he probably already has a date," Arya snarled. Catelyn sighed.

"Arya, I am trying, you know," she said, closing her eyes, "but you're trying my patience."

"Fine," Arya said. "I have someone I could go with, but you won't let me go with them."

Across the table, Sansa raised her eyebrows, as if reading Arya's mind.

"Anyone," Catelyn Stark groaned, and Arya assumed that a long and horrible day of dress shopping had worn her down. "Anyone. You could go with Hot Pie for all I care."

"Not Hot Pie," Arya said, wrinkling her nose at the thought. "Gendry."

oooooooooooooo

"What do you want?"

"Who says I want anything?" Arya demanded. "I haven't even said hello yet!"

"You only bring me lunch when you want something," Gendry informed her, taking a bite of the hot sandwich she had brought him. They sat in the Forge parking lot, watching the traffic zoom by.

"Fine," Arya relented, looking miffed.

"What's the matter? You have a bad day?" Gendry asked, taking a sip from the soda she'd brought him. Arya picked at the hole in her jeans.

"I went dress shopping with Sansa and my Mum," she spat out, and then, suddenly, she looked almost nervous.

"Dress shopping?" Gendry asked through a mouthful of sandwich.

"For the dance," she said as way of explanation.

"Ahh," he sighed, taking another bite.

"Actually... I wanted to talk to you about that," she said, picking at her jeans in earnest, ripping out a little thread and then playing with it.

"About what?"

"The dance stupid!" She groaned, annoyed.

"Oh, right," he said, and then he narrowed his eyes, suddenly feeling almost... Protective. "Do you have a date?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about-"

"Is it Edric Dane?" Gendry demanded, an unexpected flare of anger sparking in his chest. "I know your mum's been pushing-"

"Will you shut up?" Arya snapped, interrupting him. "I was going to ask you!"

"Me?" Gendry hadn't meant to choke on his sandwich, but he had inhaled sharply, which caused a great deal of coughing and patting on the back.

"I mean, if you don't want to, I totally understand, obviously-"

"No, no!" Gendry said quickly, eyes watering. "I want to."

"Really?" Arya's whole face lit up in a glorious smile. "Sweet! I mean, cool. And don't worry, it's just as friends, obviously."

Gendry felt his heart sink as he gave her what he hoped looked like a relieved smile.

"Obviously.


	4. Chapter 4

**Quick Note: So I edited Margaery's age to be the same as Sansa's. I believe in the books she's a bit older? Anyway, on to summary. **_**In which Sansa dislikes Arya's hair, Ned Stark doesn't think it's obvious that their going 'just as friends' and Hot Pie thinks he'd make a better date than Gendry.**__** All rights go to GRRM, because, obviously, I didn't write a song of ice and fire.**_

"This is impossible!" Sansa said with a frustrated huff. "This isn't hair, it's straw!"

"Thanks a lot," Arya snapped, looking up in the mirror to see Sansa's face screwed in annoyance as she attempted to pin and curl Arya's hair, hopelessly determined to find a style for the dance, which was only weeks away. The task, however, was proving arduous.

Arya didn't see what was so wrong with her hair, she liked it. At least it wasn't hacked as short as it had been when she had met Gendry. It was in a bob still, aline, high in the back and then cutting down the line of her jaw, sharply curled into her face, the front ends hanging just below her chin. And it wasn't straw! It was straight!

But it wasn't Sansa's long, naturally wavy hair that spilled over her shoulders like a beautiful, auburn waterfall. Sansa could have anyone, _anyone_! She was beautiful. And... She went with Joffrey. It would be laughable if he wasn't so horrible.

At first, Arya had thought it was some sort of thing her dad and Robert Baratheon had cooked up; why not have their two kids hook up? Then the business would really be all in the family. But the thing was, Sansa was actually _crazy_ about Joffrey. In the beginning, it was easy to make fun of her. Arya and Jon had had the best of times torturing the two of them, putting water balloons in Joffrey's pants and laughing loudly every time he tried to say something flirtatious. But then, Jon grew up, and didn't find it funny anymore.

"You're being selfish," he had told Arya when she dumped the bowl of punch on Joffrey's head at her sixteenth birthday party.

"Me? Selfish? Did you hear what he said to me?" Arya had cried, tears of betrayal pricking her eyes.

"Joffrey's a little prick, but that's no reason to ruin a perfectly nice party," Jon had said, sounding annoyingly like their father, minus the prick part. "Can't you see how much it hurts Sansa when you do stuff like this? She used to ask for it, but now she's just trying to get along with you."

"I do it _for _Sansa!" Arya shot back. "She deserves better!"

"I know that," Jon said, "and trust me, one day Sansa will too."

Arya crossed her arms, huffing.

"Why do you have to be so bloody... So bloody..." She pouted in exasperation, searching for the right word.

"Right?" Jon offered, laughing at the look on her face when he did.

"It's just that he's so awful!" Arya protested, waving her hands as if to illustrate the gravity of Joffrey's horribleness. Jon laughed. "I don't think I could be nice to him if I tried."

"That would be far too much to ask," Jon said, frowning. "Joffrey's a piece of pig shit, he doesn't deserve to be treated kindly. Just... Try not to let your temper get the better of you."

"How?" She demanded, raising an eyebrow. Jon laughed.

"Remember the time Tyrion slapped him across the face?" he said, a dreamy look passing over his face.

"Yes," Arya said, sneering.

"Just... Let that play out in your head, over and over and over again. Every time he speaks, really," Jon said, smiling as Arya laughed. "See? Works like a charm."

Looking in the mirror now, Arya sighed, feeling her longing for her older brother hurt like a sore. She missed Jon so much. He used to live at home, and it wasn't that he never visited, because he did, quite a bit, more than Robb anyway. But... It just wasn't the same as seeing him every day, and doing things just because they could, like making terrible breakfasts together on the weekend though neither of them could cook, but eating it anyway because it was fun to boast that they had lived to tell the tale. It just wasn't the same.

"I give up," Sansa sighed. "I think I'll just load it up with mousse and curl it."

"Whatever," Arya said, shrugging. Really, she was only there for Sansa's benefit, and even that seemed like a stretch. But it didn't matter, she only had a small amount of time to kill before she went to fence with Gendry, who was always the sport when she needed to practice.

"What are you doing with your hair, Sansa?" Margaery Tyrell, pipped up from her place on the bed, as she did her nails. The Tyrell's were also wealthy and successful in the business world, like the Stark's, and as a result, Margaery and Sansa had become friends. Arya didn't completely mind Margaery, she was smart when she wanted to be, and funny too. At least she wasn't as bad as Joeffry, but that wasn't saying much.

"I think I'll put half of it up in braids," Sansa said, balling up her hair to show them, "and then curl the other half."

It was perfect, of course.

"Should I die my hair?" Marygaery asked, playing with a brown strand.

"No!" Sansa snapped at once. "Your hair is perfectly fine. Besides, it might look tacky."

Arya thought she'd rather shoot herself than talk about hair, and maybe she could slip out without either of the two older girls noticing when-

"Arya, is it true you're going with that mechanic?" Margaery asked, her round brown eyes alive with the gossip. Arya caught Sansa's eye in the mirror.

"Umm... Yes..." Arya said, trying not to sound as annoyed as she felt.

"Isn't he like, older though?" Margaery demanded, blowing on her nails.

"Yes," Arya said in a very flat voice.

"Is he, like, your boyfriend?" Margaery asked, wide-eyed, eyebrows raised.

"Hardly," Sansa said, snorting with laughter. "Gendry's just like another Stark brother to Arya."

"I think I've seen a picture of him," Margaery said, "and man, if he's that hot in person, I'd never see him as a brother."

Arya tried not to hide her smug smile, but she saw Sansa catch her. When Sansa raised her eyebrows in a silent question, Arya shrugged.

"I've got to go," she said, standing. "I've got fencing practice with Gendry."

"Oh really?" Margaery said in a suggestive voice. Sansa rolled her eyes as Arya got up, picking up her bag, and left the room, as Margaery called, "have fun!"

She'd probably be in that damn limo too. Maybe she wouldn't be so silly then. At least, Arya hoped so. Margaery, when applying herself, was very clever. She'd make a very excellent politician, and Arya suspected that she already had some influence in her family's business.

As she descended the stairs of Winterfell Mansion, Arya felt her stomach give an all mighty grumble. Checking her phone, she was pleased to see that she did have time to run to the kitchen to get a quick snack before meeting Gendry.

Walking to the kitchen, she dumped her bag on the floor and headed straight for the fridge, fingers crossed that the lemon tart Hot Pie had made a couple days before was still there for the pickings.

"So I hear you're attending the dance with that mechanic, Gendry wasn't it?"

Arya screamed in surprise, jumping backwards, which caused her to slam the door of the fridge in her face. Her father, who was casually reading the newspaper at the kitchen table, looked like he was trying very hard not to laugh.

"DAD!" She gasped. "I-You... I didn't see you there."

"I gathered that," he said, suppressing a smile. "You don't usually scream when you see me, at least, I hope not..."

"Haha," Arya said dryly, snatching the tart from out of the fridge. "Who told you I was going with Gendry? Mum?"

"Yes," Ned said, lazily turning a page of the paper. "You certainly wore her out a few days ago. I've never seen her look more battle-worn. If I had known better, I'd have said she took on a whole platoon single-handedly."

"That would have been less painful," Arya said through a mouthful of tart. "Dress shopping is the worst."

Ned laughed.

"I would have to agree with you on that one," he said through snorts of laughter. Arya smiled.

After his laughter died down, Ned took a sip of what appeared to be tea, and then gave Arya a searching look.

"So what is it with you and this boy, hmm?" He asked seriously.

"Oh, we're just friends," Arya said quickly.

"Just friends?" Ned looked dubious.

"I asked him to go with me so mum would stop nagging me about Edric Dane," she explained. "He's just doing me a favor."

"A favor?" Ned said, raising his eyebrows as though he didn't believe it. Arya gave a huff, checking her watch.

"Dad, we're mates," she said. "We're just going as friends, obviously."

"Oh yes, obviously," Ned said in mock seriousness, saluting her with his cup of tea. She rolled her eyes, picking up her bag.

"Where are you going?" He called after her.

"Fencing practice for my tournament!" She said, stopping and turning around.

"With who?"

"Gendry."

"Mhmmm," Ned said, giving her a coy smile as Arya gave an annoyed huff, rolling her eyes and stomping out of the kitchen, trying to ignore her father's laughter. _He may be taking the mickey out of me now,_ she thought, _but if Gendry and I were actually dating, I sincerely doubt he'd find it so amusing._

Ooooooooooo

"Shiiiiiit," Gendry swore under his breath softly.

"What?" Hot Pie's voice floated over to him from the other side of the dressing room door.

"Nothing," Gendry sighed, letting go of the price tag of the suit he was trying on and sighing. They'd been to a dozen shops already, and everything, _everything_ was out of his price range.

"Well come out and show me then," Hot Pie said grumpily. It was obvious that he was enjoying suit shopping just as much as Gendry was.

"Fine."

Gendry opened the door and stepped out, feeling stupid, and weird to be in such nice cloths. Hot Pie raised his eyebrows and frowned, nodding in approval.

"Get it," he said. "Black suits you."

"Yeah?" Gendry asked, chancing a look at himself in the mirror. It almost made his eyes go blurry. He hardly looked like the same person. What he looked like was a proper grown-up, not some greasy young kid just scrapping by working on cars. Though he'd never admit it out loud, Gendry couldn't help but feel a little proud. He liked the way he looked, all big and important. He liked looking like someone.

"It's a bit expensive though," he grumbled, giving the price tag another contemptible look.

"Why don't you just ask Arya to pitch in? I'm sure she wouldn't mind," Hot Pie said, shrugging as he munched on a Parisian macaroon.

"I can't ask Arya to pay for my suit," Gendry sputtered. "What kind of stupid person are you? The guy doesn't ask the girl to pay, it's impolite."

"Since when do you care about manners?" Hot Pie pointed out through a mouthful of food.

"You're disgusting," Gendry informed him, still looking at himself in the mirror, trying to ignore the price tag that seemed to keep dangling itself in front of his face, taunting him.

"I don't know why Arya asked you anyway," Hot Pie said, ignoring him. "I'd be able to pay for my suit, and help with the limo as well."

"She asked me because I'm better looking," Gendry said bluntly.

"Yeah, but you're old," Hot Pie said, frowning. "Don't you hate the idea of hanging out with a bunch of half-drunk teenagers?"

"I already do," Gendry pointed out, shaking the arms of the suit jacket, which was a slightly lighter shade of black than the shirt underneath it.

"But... Won't it be awkward? With your Dad's family and all that?" Hot Pie pressed, finishing his macaroon.

"Yeah, I suppose," Gendry shrugged, "but I'm not going to the pre-party or any of that. I doubt I'll even see my Dad."

"Yeah but what about Joffrey?"

"He's about five feet shorter than I am," Gendry said, "if he annoys me, I'm pretty sure I can deal with him."

Hot Pie nodded, as though he thought this seemed fair.

"I like this one the best," he said. "You should get it."

"Yeah, speaking of which, I gotta run or I'll be late. I promised Arya I'd help her practice for her tournament,"Gendry said, checking his watch.

"Why is it always you that she asks to do things with?" Hot Pie grumbled. "You guys get to do all the fun and all I do is bake."

"Exactly," Gendry said, hurrying into the dressing room to change out of the suit and into his normal cloths before he hurriedly payed for it and left an annoyed looking Hot Pie at the mall's cafeteria.

He had to speed to get there on time, and even then he was late. Arya _hated_ when he was late, and he really wasn't in the mood to get a lecture, or even a glare. Not when his wallet had lost a considerable amount of weight for her.

However, when he got inside, he found her not even dressed, sitting on the floor, staring at herself in the mirror, legs crossed.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Just trying to picture how absolutely hideous I'll look when Sansa's finished with me," she said, not even acknowledging his presence.

"You'll be fine," he scoffed. "It's one evening."

"You're grumpy," she said, raising her eyebrows and clamoring to her feet, brushing herself off.

"Sorry," Gendry sighed, setting his bag down. "I got my suit today and nearly paid a kings ransom for it."

"I could have helped you out," Arya said, frowning. Gendry shook his head.

"I don't think so," he said.

"Why not?" She demanded. "I've helped you out loads of times."

"No, you haven't," he snapped. "Not with money. I have a job, I can pay for myself."

"Yes, I know," Arya huffed, crossing her arms over her chest, "but I feel guilty, putting you out. As if I didn't feel bad enough for making you go with me already..."

"Don't feel bad," Gendry cut across her at once, "I want to go."

"You do?" She laughed, not believing him at all.

"Of course," he said, frowning.

"Why?"

"Because I'll be with you."

He hadn't meant it to sound the way it did, all mushy and whatnot. Instantly, he felt his cheeks heat up in a brilliant blush at the look on her face, which could only be confused and uncomfortable shock. He had meant it to sound like it was just another time like this, just another time where they could hang out and have fun and _not_ like a date sort of thing when she had made it very clear that they were just friends.

"Oh."

He cursed himself internally. _STUPID!_ What was she supposed to do with that? And now, an awkward silence had settled in.

"Do you want to get started then?" He asked, clearing his throat.

"Oh. Right, yeah," Arya said, blinking rapidly. "Fencing."

They both suited up very quickly, and for the next hour or so, there was no mention of what Gendry had said. No mention of anything, really. They didn't talk much, not at all in fact, and as the minutes ticked by, Gendry was growing more and more afraid that he had freaked her out. His suspicions seemed to be confirmed when she let out an exasperated groan and stuck him again.

"Could you at least try? It's not practice if you won't even try to block me," she snapped, sounding irritated.

"I am trying," Gendry said, just as she stuck him again.

"I give up," Arya sighed, taking off her mask and sighing. "You're hopeless."

Gendry did the same, trying not to feel so put out. He hated to have Arya disappointed in him, and once more, he was humiliated for his earlier comment.

"Ugh this stupid dance!" Arya sighed, plopping to the floor in a huff. "It's ridiculous!"

"How so?" Gendry asked gamely, sitting next to her.

"It's just... Never mind," Arya said, swishing her foil back and forth, going through her motions subconsciously, slicing the air with a practiced ease.

"No, what?" Gendry pressed, frowning.

"It would have been easier, if I didn't have to go," she said softly, looking into her lap.

"Easier?" Gendry asked, feeling even guiltier about his earlier comment, which he was sure was the cause of her drop in mood.

"I feel really bad, putting you out. I know how hard it is for you to spend your hard earned-"

"Arya," Gendry cut across her, "if that's really all you're worrying about, it's fine."

"That's not all I'm worrying about," she sighed. "I don't want to deal with Sansa calling my hair straw, or Joffrey being horrible, or what the other girls at school say."

"What do the other girls at school say?" Gendry demanded, brow furrowed.

"They... Umm," she bit her lip, and Gendry realized that he had never seen her look so vulnerable. "They call me a lesbian."

"WHAT?" Gendry shouted, startling her. "Not that that would be bad if it was true, but it's not! That's ridiculous!"

"I know that," she snapped. "Girls are idiots. Still, it's really annoying having people ask me if you're my beard or whatever."

"Beard?" Gendry asked.

"You know, like you're only going with me to stop the rumors about me," she said. Gendry nodded in understanding.

"Tell you what," he said after a long period of thought, "what do you say to me pretending to be your boyfriend?"

She looked up, surprised, and then a wicked smile spread across her face.

"Really?" She asked.

"Oh yeah," he said. "I'll go all out. Do whatever you want me to. Then we'll see what those little wanks have to say about you."

He couldn't help but feel immensely proud of himself as she grinned at him, looking like Christmas had come early.

"Do, _whatever_ I want you to?" She said, wriggling her eyebrows.

"Am I going to regret this?"

"Absolutely," she said without missing a beat. "I changed my mind. This is going to be awesome.


	5. Chapter 5

**Note: I had originally planned for this chapter to be the dance, but when I wrote it out, I realized that it would flow much better if I split the dance into two chapters instead of one. I'll post the other chapter soon.**

**Summary: **_**In which Arya is displeased with the way her look for the dance has turned out, though Gendry has a very different opinion, and Joffrey is a little shit.**_

"This sucks," Arya groaned, dropping her head into her closed arms as Sansa let out another curse word, one of many she had uttered throughout the duration of the day.

"Hold still Arya!" she snapped as she grabbed another strand of mousse-caked hair, wrapping it around the curling iron.

"Fine," Arya grumbled, sitting up again and pouting in the mirror, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Don't do that again or you'll smudge your make-up," Sansa ordered, giving Arya a pointed look in the mirror.

This only caused Arya to scowl further.

"I hope you don't look like that for your mechanic," Margaery said, putting her diamond earrings on. "You'll set him off with that look on your face."

"His name is Gendry," Arya snapped grumpily.

"Honestly, I can't wait until we pick him up," Sansa groaned. "At least then you won't act so sour!"

"I am not acting sour!" Arya protested.

Both older girls gave each other meaningful looks.

"Fine," Arya relented. "But how can I not? I look like a poodle!"

"You do not look like a poodle!" Sansa said, but Arya thought she caught the hint of an amused smile on her sisters lips.

"You look pretty, Arya," Margaery said earnestly. "You should wear your make-up like that more often."

Arya had to give it to Sansa, at least she hadn't insisted on anything Arya was wearing being pink, including the make-up. Like with everything she did, Sansa had done a tasteful job, giving Arya a light hint of a smoky eye with cat eye style eyeliner and very light foundation, just enough to smooth the tones of her face. No sparkly lip gloss or thick lip-stick either, just a stain with a little bit of clear gloss for a bite of shine. Even if she didn't want to, she had to admit, she did look nice.

"I can't put on make-up," she sighed. "I always end up looking like a clown."

"It's true," Sansa laughed. "You should have seen her when she was twelve, for Robb's wedding, where she insisted on doing it on her own..."

"Do you have pictures?" Margaery laughed.

"No," Arya said, smiling in spite of herself. "I burned them."

"Much to all of our dismay," Sansa added as Margaery laughed, adjusting her dress. "Turn around Arya."

Arya did as she was told as Sansa rummaged around, coming up with a set of bobby pins and elegant clips, and then she set to work, pinning Arya's hair. She made a quick job of it, only pulling a few curls back up behind her right ear, and then stood back, looking throughly pleased with herself.

"You look excellent," she said, beaming. Arya stood up and turned around, and then let out a groan.

"I look like an oak tree."

Ooooooooooooooooo

Gendry couldn't help it, he was pacing. Nerves were getting the better of him, which was stupid. He tried to tell himself that it was because he was going to have to spend time with Joffrey, who he hadn't seen since they were kids, and who, as he remembered, hated his guts. But, if he was being honest, that wasn't the case. He was about to go to a dance. With Arya.

He tried to remember what Hot Pie was telling him earlier, that it was just a stupid dance with a bunch of half-drunk teenagers, something he had outgrown a long time ago. But he knew it wasn't the dance he was dreading. He and Arya probably would have a good time making fun of all her peers.

He had never felt this nervous for a girl, which was stupid because it was Arya, his best friend. But he just wanted everything to be perfect for her. He knew she had a hard time making friends, and that school had been anything but fun for her, and he just wanted this night to be different. And he could see it, through all her whining and complaining, that she wanted tonight to be special too.

And he was not about to muck that up.

He had been almost obsessively meticulous in getting ready for this stupid dance. He had gotten off work early, and then showered and scrubbed himself so clean that he felt raw. He had debated shaving, wondering whether appearing more rugged and dangerous was to Arya's benefit more than a clean-cut look (after all, he wanted to look the part of the dangerous, older boyfriend), but, in the end, he had decided to shave anyway. And then he had dabbed just the tiniest bit of cologne on, but hating it, had tried to wash it off, which had been questionably successful. And then on went the suit, and he didn't look half bad.

Really.

Damn! It was horrible having to wait around at the Forge where they were picking him up. It felt so weird to be around cars and not work on them because he didn't want to get dirty after he had gone to so much effort to make himself clean. There was some sort of crazy madness going on inside him, though, as he paced by the cars, an itch under his skin begging him to work on them, while also waiting for Arya to just _show up. _Seriously, what was taking them so long?

"Gendry."

He jumped so violently he was sure he was going to have a heart attack, and then, as he turned around, he was positive he was going to have one.

She looked... Amazing. Even if he blushed to think it, it was true. Sansa had done an amazing job. Her short hair was curled, part of it pulled back in elegant pins, her bangs swept across her forehead. And the dress, it suited her perfectly. It was a nice shade of deep green, with a tight bodice, one green strap going from the center and over her shoulder to the back, the rest of the shirt flowing out in different lengths. The strap was made of little green, leaf shaped jewels, that matched her silver earrings.

"You look..." He sputtered, trying to find the words that were swirling around in his head, "like a lady."

She snorted.

"I look like an oak tree," she said, wrinkling her nose. Gendry blushed, feeling stupid and furious with himself for acting like such a dolt.

"A nice one though, a nice oak tree. You even smell nice too," he said, sniffing her and then chuckling.

"Sansa attacked me with perfume," she said. "At least I bathed, which is more than I can say for you."

"I beg your pardon?" Gendry demanded.

"You heard me," she said, a devilish and irresistible grin spreading across her face as she turned to run.

"You little shit!" He shouted, grabbing her. "You take that back!"

"Never!" She was quicker than he was, but not quick enough, and suddenly they were tumbling to the ground, Arya shrieking and Gendry laughing.

"Take it back!"

"NO!"

She tried to wriggle away, but he was bigger than she was, and trapped her under him, pining her to the ground.

"Take it back."

Arya stared at him, chest heaving, as they laid there, panting, and then he realized what he was doing. Lying on top of her on the floor of the Forge, as she wore a dress that probably caused twice the amount of his suit.

"Sorry," he said, but she didn't seem to have heard him. Her mouth was slightly open, and she was staring up at him, an unreadable look on her face.

And then she was throwing him off her, leaping to her feet, her face screwed up in fury.

"STUPID!" She shouted. "I don't look so lovely now do I? Now Sansa's going to kill me! Just look at my hair!"

And with that she turned on her heal and stormed out of the Forge, leaving Gendry to scramble behind her, practically shouting a million apologies, which would all be useless once Sansa laid eyes on them.

The door to the pure white limo-of course the limo would be white, only the best for prince Joffrey-was open, and a very audible shriek came from inside it.

"ARYA! YOUR HAIR!"

Arya threw Gendry a glare before climbing in the limo, leaving him to clamor in after her.

It was just like out of one of his nightmares.

Joffrey sat at the front, glaring back towards him, adorned in a pure white suit that, Gendry couldn't help but note with satisfaction, made the blonde boy look like a pimp. His arm was around Sansa, who looked genuinely lovely, adorned in a strapless pink dress with a shirt that looked like it was made out of petals.

"What were you two doing?" A brown haired girl asked, a slight smirk on her face, as she took their disheveled state in.

"Wrestling," Arya said simply, and though she had yelled at him earlier, when she caught Gendry's eye, she smiled.

"Were you now?" the brown haired girl said, looking Gendry up and down, and he looked over at Arya again, who rolled her eyes.

"Oh honestly Margaery, give it a rest," Sansa snapped as she ran her fingers through Arya's curls, fixing them.

"I'm convinced that you two are hiding something," the brunette, who must have been Margaery, said to Gendry in a matter-of-fact voice.

"We're not," he said at once, feeling uncomfortable.

"Just ignore her," Arya said. "Margaery's lovely when she wants to be."

"I'm lovely all the time," Margaery said, flipping her hair over her shoulders and then wriggling her eyebrows. Arya and Sansa laughed.

"You've made us late," Joffrey snarled, glaring at Gendry.

"He didn't make us late," Arya snapped, rolling her eyes. "We left early."

"Shut up you little slag," Joffrey growled, his glare turned to Arya now. _He literally looks like someone shoved pig shit up his nose_.

"Oi!" Gendry said. "Don't you talk to her like that!"

"I'll talk to her however I like, bastard," Joffrey sneered, leering at Gendry, who felt his face growing very hot.

"You're looking to get a slap!" Arya shouted, but Sansa, sensing danger, quickly turned to Joffrey.

"Joffrey please," she said. "This is my last prom. You promised."

Joffrey scowled, wrenching his arm away from her.

"You know she only took him to humiliate me!" He spat, pointing at Gendry as though he were some horrible, disgusting thing.

"You think everything is about you, don't you, you little twat?" Arya snapped, turning around to glare at Joffrey. "And as it so happens, the reason I invited Gendry had nothing to do with you, I didn't even know we were going to be riding in this limo when I did."

"What did you think you were going to take, his motorcycle?" Sansa asked weakly as Joffrey sputtered, probably because he had been called a twat.

"You have a motorcycle?" Margaery asked Gendry, who grimaced.

"I don't believe you," Joffrey said, sounding like a two-year-old.

"Oh just shut up, will you?" Gendry snapped.

"Don't tell me-"

"EVERYONE! PLEASE!" Sansa roared, silencing them all. "Can we _please_ just get to the dance without all this useless arguing?"

"I want her to apologize," Joffrey said, nodding towards Arya and folding his arms.

"Yeah, and you can take that apology and shove it right up your-"

"ARYA!"

Arya sighed, her lips pursed, and gave Gendry a very meaningful look as if to say, _see what I have to deal with?_

"Fine," she said. "Joffrey, I'm sorry you have to always be such an egotistical twat."

Gendry snorted with laughter, and even Margaery did as well, though she had the good grace to look guilty when Joffrey's glare shot her way.

"Oh come on Joffrey," she said good-naturedly, "telling Arya to apologize is like pulling a lion's teeth: nearly impossible and bloody."

Joffrey scowled and sat back, defeated, arms crossed over his chest, looking positively livid. Gendry had the sinking suspicion that this wasn't the last he'd hear of this.

Sansa sat back, looking very relieved that it was all over, and Arya scooted away from her, sitting next to Gendry and giving his hand a quick squeeze, as though to reassure him that they would be verbally abusing Joffrey for the rest of the evening. The squeeze, however, did not go by unnoticed. The smirk on Margaery's face was unmistakable.

Oh yes, it was going to be a long ride there.

**So here are links to what I sort of, kind of, not really picture Sansa and Arya's dresses to look like if you're interested.**

Sansa: .com/imgres?num=10&um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=:en-US:official&biw=1280&bih=595&tbm=isch&tbnid=gO4zDYJmZD5UuM:&imgrefurl=&docid=T2S3SLXHpT3p1M&imgurl=&w=600&h=800&ei=_mTFT7y4HqjUsgLl6_GaBg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=109&vpy=65&dur=1104&hovh=259&hovw=194&tx=96&ty=149&sig=104381072726696218565&sqi=2&page=1&tbnh=122&tbnw=91&start=0&ndsp=30&ved=1t:429,r:10,s:0,i:93

Arya: .com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&sa=N&rls=:en-US:official&biw=1280&bih=595&tbm=isch&tbnid=y3rFrLKOUSvscM:&imgrefurl=.&docid=NmdbzH2tEJYBkM&imgurl=.&w=300&h=300&ei=xWPFT5WoFYjbsgKIvbHrCQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=843&vpy=238&dur=860&hovh=225&hovw=225&tx=105&ty=134&sig=104381072726696218565&page=2&tbnh=117&tbnw=117&start=30&ndsp=35&ved=1t:429,r:33,s:30,i:208


	6. Chapter 6

**Note: THE PROM! Hopefully, Arya's prom will go better than mine, but we'll see, shan't we?**

_**Summary: In which Joffrey gets his revenge, and Arya surprises Gendry.**_

__Arya Stark never thought she'd be so happy to just set foot on solid ground, but when she stepped out of the limo, she nearly wept with joy. It had been horrible. She had to stop herself nearly five million times from ripping Joffrey's teeth out. Had his mother taught him _any _manners? Well, probably not, but still! How dare he ask Gendry if he had even graduated high school? The little-ARGH! She could kill him, she really could.

If she had gained anything pleasurable from that ride in the limo, it was that she would have full rights to complain loudly for at least a solid week without anyone telling her that she wasn't being fair. And, that she now was fully entitled to one day pay Joffrey back, which she had really intended to do anyway. But no one insulted Gendry like that. No one. Joffrey was going to regret the day he ever called him a bastard.

"What are you smirking so evilly about?" Gendry asked her in a low voice, and Arya chuckled.

"Oh just fantasizing about how I'm going to beat the crap out of that little moron," she said casually, nodding to Joffrey, who was walking ahead of them, hand in hand with Sansa. Gendry laughed.

"Count me in on that, will you?" He asked. "I don't want you to have all the fun."

"But of course," she said, taking his arm, "where would I be without my partner in crime?"

"So what's the plan then? I'll beat the shit out of him, and then you'll make him cry?"

Arya snorted with unflattering laughter, causing both Sansa and Joffrey to turn around and give them disapproving looks.

"Something along the lines of that," she said, "though I think I'll help you with the beating, if you don't mind."

"Oh no," Gendry said in mock seriousness, "I'll even let you throw the beginning punch, ladies first and all that."

"You really are a gentleman," she said pompously, and then, before she could talk herself out of it, she pulled him down and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Starting the act already?" He asked. "We aren't even inside yet."

Arya could feel her cheeks heating with a blush, which would have been an angry red if it wasn't for the layer of foundation on her face.

"Just getting warmed up," she lied smoothly.

"That reminds me," Gendry said as they walked in the building, a nice hotel, "how exactly do you want to play this?"

"I don't know," she shrugged. "Just follow my lead?"

"Well, I'll have to know basic details," Gendry said playfully. "I don't want to blow it, you know."

"Okay," Arya replied thoughtfully, "let's just keep it simple."

"Sounds beautiful to me," Gendry agreed. She rolled her eyes.

"So basically, let's just stick to the truth, except that at one point, we stopped being friends and starting being lovers," she joked, wriggling her eyebrows and then snorting with laughter.

"Oh, so we've had sex then?" Gendry said, eyebrows raised.

Foundation or no foundation, Arya Stark was blushing brilliantly.

"Of course," she said, trying to sound nonchalant. "I mean, come on, look at me! How could you keep your hands off me?"

Gendry's face turned red, but he grinned at her none-the-less.

"I'm not so bad looking myself, you know. Sometimes it's difficult for me, how you're always nagging at me, telling me to take my cloths off so that you can look at my glorious body-"

"Oh please," Arya cut across him as he snickered, "I just ate."

They reached the doors, where chaperones were checking bags, and Arya felt her throat clench slightly with nerves. Already, people were staring. Her classmates, were turning, whispering. Brushing off the butterflies in her stomach, she shook her head and stood tall, determined to look confident. _I'll show those bitches yet_, she thought smugly as they passed the coat check.

"Ready?" Gendry whispered in her ear.

"It's showtime," she said back, a wicked grin on her face, which he returned, and, arm in arm, they strode into the dance after Sansa and Joffrey, Margaery and her date trailing behind.

At once, Arya could tell that she would be infinitely grateful that Gendry was at her side. She could not have survived this without him. There were swirling lights, shrieking girls dancing, and an array of food and drinks that were, admittedly, looking actually not that bad. There were white curtains hung up as artistic decorations, but where Arya guessed couples were going off to make out, and an array of tables to sit down. White christmas lights hung from the ceiling providing a small bit of light while horrible music blasted, drowning out all other sounds.

"Oh lord," Arya muttered under her breath, feeling embarrassed for having dragged Gendry here. _This must be hell for him_, she thought guiltily.

"Well? What do you think?" Gendry shouted at her over the din.

"I hate it!" She shouted back. He smiled.

"That's my girl."

"ARYA!" A horde of girls, all of whom she was positive had absolutely hated her a day ago, were running towards her as though she was their best friend. Hell, she didn't know any of their names, or even who some of them were. She gripped Gendry's arm for support, and when she looked up, she saw that his jaw was clenched and he was glaring, knowing that these girls were the ones that she had told him about.

"Hi," she said through gritted teeth.

"Aren't you going to tell us who your date is?" One of the girls, a bleached blonde, shouted, looking Gendry up and down.

"I'm her boyfriend," Gendry said at once, dropping Arya's arm and putting his arm around her shoulder, his hand gripping her protectively.

"Oooh!" The girl said, and the others all whispered to each other, looking at Gendry as if he was some sort of dessert. Arya reached up to her shoulder and laced her fingers with his, giving them a simpering smile. "How come you've never told us about him Arya?"

"Because you never asked," she said, a huge false smile plastered on her face.

"Oh, how old are you?" Another girl asked flirtatiously, stepping forward. Arya glared at her, the little tart.

"Twenty-two," Gendry said shortly. They all sighed.

"That's so cool," the girl said.

"Is it?" Gendry asked, looking throughly bored. Arya suppressed a snort of laughter.

"So, how long have you two been dating?" The first girl demanded.

Gendry and Arya looked at each other. She felt panicked. They hadn't discussed this, what if they were about to get caught-

"Not long," Gendry said smoothly.

"I see," the second girl said, smirking.

"Yeah," Gendry said. "I wish we had started earlier, then maybe I would be able to get my work done."

"I'm sorry?" The girl asked, confused.

"Well, we've just been at it all the time, shagging like rabbits," Gendry said earnestly, "I haven't had much time for anything else, if you know what I mean."

Arya was trying not to laugh so hard she thought she might piss her pants. Oh it had been worth it, so worth it, to see the looks on their faces! She should have brought a camera.

"Oh," the girl said, her eyes wide, absolutely flabbergasted.

"Now, if you'll just excuse us," Gendry said, smiling, and whisked Arya away, leaving the group of girls standing there, all gaping.

As soon as they were out of ear shot, they both took one look at each other, and burst out laughing hysterically. Arya doubled over, unable to breathe, as Gendry howled, wiping tears from his eyes.

"Their faces!" She gasped. "Their faces! Oh Gendry you shouldn't have!"

"I'll be damned if any of them call you a lesbian again," he said, looking very proud of himself.

"A slag maybe, but not a lesbian," Arya sighed.

"Filthy little pricks the lot of them," he said, glaring after them. But then he smiled at her. "I hope their faces stay that way, it would improve their looks."

Arya burst into laughter again, and Gendry chimed in.

"Oh I love you," she gasped, wiping tears from her eyes as well. As soon as she said it, her heart gave a lurch, but Gendry didn't seem to notice.

"That was fun," he said. "Let's do that again."

"Oh good! There's a group of jocks over there, a real group of assholes, let's go prey on them!" Arya said, cackling as he offered her his arm.

As the night wore on, Arya took every mean thing she had said about prom back. She had never had this much fun in her life. Playing all the people that had made her life miserable since elementary school was like a gift from god. And Gendry, Gendry was a genius! From regaling his stories of how difficult it was for him to catch Arya, as she was so sought after by hot men, to talking about his motorcycle and 'badass' lifestyle, he left every group of people they talked to gaping after him with Arya on his arm, feeling ten stories high.

When they got bored of that, they decided to sample the large array of food laid out for them, and then Gendry pulled her to the dance floor. Though Arya insisted she sucked at dancing, Gendry soon had her laughing as he went around, imitating the girls in her grade, pretending to flip his hair and thrusting his hips.

"Stop!" She cried. "You're making my sides hurt! And my make-ups gone to shit!"

"Doesn't matter," Gendry said as the music slowed. "You look wonderful."

Arya didn't know whether it was that comment, or the fact that she was delirious with laughter, or maybe she was just caught up in the act, but before she knew what she was doing, she grabbed the back of his neck and went up on her tip toes, pulling his lips to hers and kissed him.

Instantly, her mind screamed at her to stop, that he would be uncomfortable, that he would pull away... But he didn't.

Instead, he returned her kiss, deepening it, and wrapping his arms around her, lifting her up so that she might wrap her arms around his neck.

Eyes closed, Arya could feel her head swimming, and all she could think about was that this wasn't real. This night couldn't be this perfect, it just couldn't. She was going to wake up any second now, she was.

They broke the kiss simultaneously, and Arya felt herself sink back on her heels. Around them, people were staring, not all, but a good deal of them. Arya looked over to see Sansa and Joffrey slow dancing, Joffrey looking disgusted and Sansa just looking shocked. Behind them, Margaery was smirking smugly.

But it was Gendry she was afraid to look at, and when she did, he looked like he had taken a blow to the head, his eyes wide with questioning.

"There," she said, smiling up at him. "That'll keep them guessing."

Ooooooooooooooo

_That'll keep them guessing. _Ha! How right she was. It was certainly keeping him guessing, Gendry thought, feeling as if he'd just been hit by a bus.

She might have given him proper warning! So he wouldn't just be standing there, gaping like an idiot. But no, that wasn't Arya's way. She just had to go and kiss him, didn't she? She just had to go and muck up his already very confused feelings even more.

Not that he minded.

He couldn't help but keep grinning like a fool, smiling at people he didn't even know or like, while they all gave him strange looks. He even smiled at Joffrey, who promptly flipped him off, looking like he had just stepped in dog shit.

After they finished the slow dance, Arya snickering at all the other thunderstruck people while Gendry could only pretend he was listening to her, Gendry excused himself to go visit the loo, giving him a chance to clear his head.

As he stood there, taking a piss, trying to get his head straight, the door swung open and a pair of annoying teen boys entered, talking.

"-did you see that? I thought someone said Arya Stark was, you know..."

"Well, obviously not. Did you see that guy? He's huge! And sketch too. He's probably a member of a gang or..."

His voice trailed off in horror as Gendry casually turned around, zipping up, and then walked over to the sink, washed his hands and gave the boys a pleasant smile before leaving, trying very hard not to laugh.

The second he exited the bathroom, however, a hand shot out and grabbed his arm.

"WHAT THE BLOODY-"

"Sorry!" Arya said, laughing. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"Yeah, I'm sure," Gendry said grumpily, his heart beating in his ears. "What's up?"

"It's Joffrey," she sighed. "He wants to leave."

"What, now?" Gendry asked. "It's only just begun."

"Gendry, it's fifteen minutes until midnight. Joffrey wants to leave so we can avoid traffic on the way home," Arya explained, frowning.

Had all that time really passed? Gendry checked his watch in amazement. It had.

"Okay," he relented, shrugging. "Fine by me. Where are they?"

"At the coat check," Arya said, already leading him there, pulling him by his elbow.

By the time they got there, Joffrey and Sansa were all ready to go. Sansa with her silk wrap and Joffrey looking, as per-usual, thoroughly unpleasant, a scowl on his face.

"Where's Margaery?" Gendry asked Sansa as Arya went to get her purse and jacket.

"She's staying on," Sansa said while Joffrey scowled in the background, muttering darkly to himself, "I think she's spending the night with her date."

"Ahh," Gendry said in understanding as Arya appeared, purse in hand and ready to go. Without further ado they left, Joffrey leading the way.

The limo ride back wasn't nearly as bad as the ride there. At least Joffrey didn't even bother speaking, and at one point, after several yawns, Arya laid her head on Gendry's shoulder, her eyes drifting closed sleepily.

When the limo pulled to a stop at what Gendry assumed was Winterfell (they had planned to all be dropped off there, and Arya would give Gendry a ride home so that he wouldn't have to take his motorcycle and ruin his suit), he and Arya clamored out, both yawning.

"What the-"

"This is the Forge!" Arya snapped, wheeling around to see Joffrey slamming the door of the limo closed. "What are you playing at you little twat?"

"Sorry," Joffrey simpered, rolling down the window and not looking sorry in the least, "but change of plans. It turns out, we won't be going to Winterfell tonight."

"OPEN THE DOOR YOU LITTLE SHIT!" Arya shrieked, racing for the window, but Joffrey was too quick for her, rolling up the window just enough so she couldn't reach inside and unlock the door.

"I'm sorry, but no," Joffrey sneered. "Looks like you're locked out for the night while we go to Kings Landing. My uncle Jaime has a nice little condo down there, it should be lovely. It's really too bad you can't come. Drive on."

The limo began to pull away.

"SANSA!" Arya screeched, and Gendry could hear Sansa pleading with Joffrey and asking the car to stop, but he just rolled up the window.

"STOP!" Arya screamed, running after them, wrenching off her shoes and then proceeding to chuck them at the limo, where they bounced off and into the darkness. "WANKER! SHIT HEAD! TWAT!"

"Arya stop!" Gendry called. "I'll just call a cab!"

"Oh that little-HE'S SO DEAD!" She shrieked, stamping her feet and screaming in rage after the limo, which had already disappeared from view.

Gendry fished through his pockets, and then realized that he had left his phone at home.

"Arya!" he called. "Can you call? I left my phone at home!"

"Oh sure, I'll just get my- OH THAT LITTLE SHIT! HE TOOK MY PURSE!" Arya roared, and for the next few minutes, Gendry watched as she swore loudly, bellowing obscenities into the night.

"Now what?" she asked when she had finished, breathing heavily after shouting so much.

"I dunno," Gendry shrugged. "I've got my keys. I suppose we'll have to stay here for the night and in the morning Yoren will give us a ride home."

"Here?" Arya sighed, looking dubious. "All right."

She started to make her way towards him, but-

"Wait!" Gendry shouted. "There's glass all over the place, you'll cut your feet! Here, I'll give you a ride."

He walked over to her and crouched down, feeling her wrap her arms around his neck and hop up on his back as he linked his arms around her legs.

"Just like old times, ehh?" He chuckled as he carried her effortlessly across the parking lot and to the door.

"I must be heavier than I was back then," Arya mused as he set her down, getting out his keys and unlocking the door, ushering her in.

"Only a little," he teased, turning on the lights as they stood there, taking in the Forge.

"I guess we could sleep in the office..." Arya sighed, looking unhappy.

"I guess," Gendry sighed, looking around. "Except the carpets disgusting, and it's freezing in there... Hey! I've got an idea."

"What?"

"We could always take the ferrari," he said, pointing over to the beautiful red car that just sat there, unlocked, and waiting patiently.

"All right," Arya shrugged. "I sort of always wanted to sit in one of those anyway."

"Haven't you already?" Gendry asked, walking over and opening the door for her so that she could climb into the passenger seat. "I suppose the Lannisters have like, sixteen or something."

"Hardly," she snorted when he walked around and opened up the driver's door, getting in as well. "And if they did, they wouldn't let me near one, let alone _in_ one."

Gendry laughed, sitting back and closing his eyes, exhausted, and it was only one in the morning.

"So," he sighed, "how was it? Everything you dreaded?"

"No," she said softly, and he turned around, popping one eye open to see her curled towards him, arms around her shoulders, looking cold.

"Here," he said, quickly unbuttoning his suit jacket and handing it to her.

"Thanks," she said earnestly, wrapping it around her shoulders and then taking a sniff. "It smells like you."

"Really? That's weird, I've only had it for a few days," Gendry said, smiling. "But then again, you always tell me I stink anyway."

"Ha ha," she said drily, looking up at the roof of the car. A long silence passed between them, and Gendry closed his eyes, already feeling sleep beginning to turn his brain drunk, when Arya cleared her throat.

"Were you... Were you mad? When I kissed you?" she whispered in a very small voice. He opened his eyes to look at her, surprised to see her eyes very wide and cautious.

"No," he said at once, frowning. "It was fine. Brilliant, actually, a very nice touch."

"Oh," she said, sounding relieved. "Good."

There was another pause.

"Was... Was it bad?" she asked in an even quieter voice. Gendry raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Was that the first time you'd ever kissed anyone?" He asked, genuinely surprised. Her face exploded in an angry red blush.

"Yes," she said, looking absolutely mortified. "Was it obvious?"

"No," Gendry answered honestly.

"So... It was all right then?" She pressed tentatively. Gendry smiled and closed his eyes again.

"Oh yeah," he sighed. "Don't worry. You just need a bit of practice and you'll be fine."

Really, once she had practiced, she'd get over her insecurities. And once she'd gotten over that, well... But he didn't let himself think about that. Instead, he sighed, getting comfortable, and drifted off to sleep, a ghost of a smile still on his face.

**I know that some of you wanted the night to end, shall we say, a little differently, but... Well, let's just say it's rated M for a reason... So just keep reading. I've planned this all out, and actually, it's probably going to be way longer than I expected, so if you could bare with me that would be awesome. I'm all for things working out somewhat realistically, and I really don't think that at this point they're ready for shenanigans. There have to be at least a few more scenes of awkward sexual tension, okay**


	7. Chapter 7

**Note: I wanted to throw out a warning that my final exams are fast approaching, and I'm a little worried that I won't have the time to keep pumping out chapters like I have been (I've never written something so quickly in my life). That being said, fear not! I still have big plans for this fic, and since I seem to be really enjoying writing it, I'm going to try to get it out on the page as fast as possible. Also, this chapter, sadly, is basically just filler. Sorry, but good stuff to come I promise!**

_**Summary: In which Arya and Gendry both have very different views on how the prom went.**_

__"Get up you sorry sons of whores!"

Gendry jumped so violently that he rammed his head into the roof of the ferrari, cursing loudly as he did. Head still fogged with sleep, he looked around, confused and blurry-eyed, to see Arya next to him, looking like she had been surprised as well.

The door of the car was wrenched open, and Yoren stuck his burly face in, scowling at them, his eyes doing their very best to burn Gendry to the ground.

"What's going on here?" He barked, causing both of them to jump again.

"We were sleeping, jesus Yoren," Gendry grumbled, running a hand over his face, his eyes still caked with sleep.

"I can see that," Yoren snapped. "It's what you were doing before sleeping that concerns me. There better not be semen in that car, boy, or I'll skin your arse and hang it in my office!"

"Don't worry," Arya said from behind Gendry. "We really were just sleeping. Joffrey was supposed to drop us off at Winterfell last night, but instead, he thought it'd be a good joke if he dumped us here for the night."

Yoren gave Gendry a long, distrustful look.

"Good," he snarled, "because if you laid one finger on her-"

"It would be our business," Arya snapped, getting out of the car and slamming the door. "And don't worry, there's no danger of that ever happening."

Gendry blinked in surprise. He had not expected her voice to sound so acidic, but then again, she had just spent the night in a car instead of a bed, and she couldn't be in a good mood. In fact, it was expected that she would be furious. Gendry almost felt sorry for Joffrey. He was really going to get it.

"Didn't you have any form of transportation?" Yoren asked, straightening up so that Gendry could get out as well.

"No," Arya snarled. "He stole my phone, and Gendry had left his at home."

Yoren sighed.

"Well, I suppose I'll be driving both of you home then?" He grumbled, looking very put out.

"That would be lovely," Arya sighed, running her hands through her hair, which had not survived the night, but was now tangled and depleted.

Just as she said that, there was a screeching of tires, and a nice car pulled into the Forge parking lot. Before Gendry could wonder who it was, Sansa was leaping out of the car, having changed into a sweater and white jeans, and was running towards them, shouting apologies.

"I'm so sorry!" She cried, running up to Arya and sounding breathless. "I can't believe Joffrey did that! I begged him and begged him to stop, but he just wouldn't! And when we got to King's Landing, I locked myself in the bathroom and refused to come out until he promised to take me home! I came to get you as soon as I could, I swear! I'm so sorry!"

"Why don't you just dump him?" Arya asked grumpily, pulling Gendry's suit jacket tighter around her shoulders. Sansa sighed.

"I've come to take you straight home, Arya. Dad's furious, he's been yelling at Robert Baratheon for hours. I think he'll go absolutely bonkers if I don't get you back instantly," she sighed, looking fretful.

"All right, keep your hair on," Arya said, and then she turned back to Gendry.

"Here," she said, giving him his suit jacket. "Thanks for that."

Gendry took it, smiling at her. She gave him a small smile in return, and then warily turned to Sansa, who snatched her arm and started dragging her back to the car.

"See you at the tournament!" Gendry called after her happily, waving. She waved back, though slightly less enthusiastically. He sighed, watching as she got in the car, and then watching her driving away. Really, he couldn't have imagined that last night going better if he tried.

"So you'll give me a lift then?" He asked, turning to Yoren.

"What am I? A cabbie? Take the damn bus," Yoren snapped, slapping a few bills in his hand before slouching back into the Forge. "And I want that money back!"

Gendry sighed, but his mood couldn't be dampened.

It just couldn't have gone better, and he felt ten feet tall.

Ooooooooooooooo

_Really, it couldn't have gone worse,_ Arya thought dejectedly as Sansa drove her home, prattling on with one apology after another. She had never felt so embarrassed, or humiliated, in her life.

_Practice, _she thought, squeezing her eyes shut. He had told her she needed practice! Humiliation coiled in her stomach like a hot angry snake, pulling in her insides until she wanted to just melt into the seat of the car. STUPID! What had possessed her to do that? Why did she kiss him? WHY?

She couldn't think of a worse outcome. Well, maybe she could, but realistically this was probably the worst that could have happened. Practice! It had been horrible, she was sure. What had she been doing? He probably noticed right away. He'd probably kissed loads of girls before. Girls that were better than her, prettier than her, and far more experienced than she was. He was probably feeling sorry for her right now, poor Arya, poor kid who can't even kiss properly. Poor little virgin.

Ugh! She wanted to go back and kick herself in the face.

"What's wrong?" Sansa asked, concerned. "Are you okay? Did something bad happen?"

"No," Arya snapped, but, of course, that basically meant that something bad _had_ happened.

"Did you and Gendry have a row?" Sansa asked, frowning. "He seemed perfectly happy to me when I picked you up. Was it about the kiss?"

Arya stared determinedly out the window, her cheeks burning.

"Well? Was it?"

"We didn't have a row," Arya said curtly. "I just don't really appreciate being dumped in a parking lot in the middle of the night and having to sleep in the car. I ache all over, and I barely slept at all. I'm tired, Sansa, is that a crime?"

"No," Sansa sighed. "Of course not. I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing," Arya said, annoyed. "You did nothing wrong. It's Joffrey who should be apologizing!"

"That's what Dad said," Sansa sighed. "He was so furious when Joffrey dropped me off, I was surprised he didn't charge down Joffrey's car and take him out and beat him. I told you he's been on the phone with Robert, who, of course, thinks it's all hilarious. He can be really crude, you know."

She wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"Crude?" Arya asked, lost.

"Oh he just said some things about you and Gendry being dropped off together that Dad really didn't like," Sansa said delicately.

"Yeah, I bet he didn't," Arya said. "And if I know Robert Baratheon, they weren't very nice."

"Hardly," Sansa said, smirking a bit.

"Oh Ned, don't be such an old man! I'm sure Gendry knows how to keep Arya warm at night, he's a Baratheon after all!" Arya said, dropping her voice and screwing her face up in a very good impression of Robert Baratheon. Sansa laughed.

"That would be the PG version of it," she said darkly.

"_That_ would be the PG version?" Arya sputtered. "What does he have? A psychotic death wish? You know how protective Dad is!"

"Trust me, I know," Sansa said. "He wasn't too pleased about Joffrey taking me to King's Landing either."

"Did you, you know... Did Joffrey want to..." Arya asked tentatively.

"Did Joffrey want to get in my pants?" Sansa asked bluntly, not daunted in the least. "Yes. Did I let him? No."

"Good," Arya sighed with relief, and then, realizing how offenssive that must have sounded, sputtered, "I mean-"

"I'm not completely worthless, you know," Sansa snapped. "I'd never so much as kiss him after he pulled a stunt like that. And you can be sure that I'll be giving him the silent treatment too."

"But you're not going to break up with him, are you?" Arya said, disappointed.

"I don't know," Sansa said after a long moment of silence.

"What?"Arya said, sure she had misheard her.

"Nothing," Sansa said, shrugging her off. "We'll see what happens. I might not even get the chance, Dad really looked like he had murder on his mind."

"I sort of wish Robert would bring Joffrey over so we could watch Dad take him down," Arya said wickedly. Sansa laughed.

"I sort of wish that too," she sighed softly. "I sort of wish that too."

** Oh! And thank you all for the lovely reviews! They really inspire me to keep cranking away at this fi**


	8. Chapter 8

**Note: God, and then this chapter's filler too! It can't be helped, unfortunately, because I really have this thing where I like things to play out smoothly, and not have the story all choppy. So, unfortunately, this chapter's filler as well (but stuff happens, I promise). The next chapter, however, will be the awards banquet, and a huge event happens there (besides the banquet that is). And just in case you're wondering, since I don't want to get anyone's hopes up, no, it's not that Ayra and Gendry have sex.**

_**Summary: In which Arya continues to be very disappointed in the way things seem to be going, and Gendry runs into Ned at her fencing tournament.**_

___TWACK!_

The arrow hit the target dead in the center, sinking into the soft wood of the board and sticking there. Lowering the bow, Arya smiled, admiring her work. So far, she had hit all three targets dead in the center, and, too lazy to go and get her arrows so that she could just hit them all in the center again, decided to just chose places on each target to aim.

Flipping her bangs back, Arya bent down and selected an arrow from her tourniquet. As she straightened up, placing it on the bow, she couldn't help but have her thoughts drift, yet again, to the disaster that was prom.

She just couldn't stop thinking about it. It was like the time she ate bad clams at one of Robert Baratheon's banquets, and ended up throwing up in one of the potted plants; no matter how many times she tried not to think of the incident, it always came cropping up her in mind, as if to torture her, refusing to just play nice and leave.

And then, of course, there was the awards banquet to consider. It was coming up in a week or so, and if Arya had not been looking forward to the prom, it was nothing in comparison to how she felt towards the awards ceremony.

For prom, she had only had to endure Joffrey, but for the awards ceremony, there were usually a whole herd of Lannisters running about, all of whom she despised, except for maybe Twyin Lannister, Joffrey's grandfather. He was all right, but wasn't coming this time, as he had business elsewhere.

And it wasn't even the prospect of spending time with the Lannister's either. There was something very fishy about this particular awards banquet. She usually was able to talk her way out of going, but obviously this year that wasn't going to be the case. Maybe everyone always acted this way before an awards banquet, all reserved and busy, and by everyone, of course, Arya meant Sansa. Maybe she really was going to break up with Joffrey, Arya thought to herself, it would certainly explain a good deal. How she barely talked at dinner, or seemed with-drawn, spending most of her time in her room.

Her parents were acting weird as well. Maybe it was that visit Joffrey had paid a few weeks ago, right after the prom fiasco. It had been very hush-hush (Arya was not allowed to listen in under the door), and when Joffrey had left, her parents had unreadable looks on their faces.

Arya hoped that was what had happened, that Sansa and Joffrey were going to break up, but it also didn't seem likely either. Sansa might have seemed unusually quiet and antisocial, but she was also spending a great deal of time with Joffrey and at the Baratheon household. It made no sense, but Arya had much bigger things nagging at her, like the kiss, for instance. Damn! There it was again! And she had promised herself not to think about it!

Gritting her teeth, she pulled the bow up and aimed, imaging the target was Joffrey's head so she would have something other than herself in which to vent out her anger.

_TWACK!_

Once again, the arrow hit the target exactly where she wanted it too, and Arya smirked, allowing herself a moment of pride before she went to retrieve another arrow.

"I'd have thought you'd be practicing for the tournament," her father's voice sounded behind her, startling her slightly. Arya turned around to see him dressed in a nice dark blue suit, probably just home from work, smiling at her in the late morning sun.

"There's only so much practicing I can do," she said, taking another arrow. "And besides, if I focus on it too much, I'll just make myself crazy."

"Jon called," Ned said hesitantly from behind her as she aimed the arrow again. "He says he's sorry, Arya, but he can't make it. And Bran can only come for the second half as well."

_TWACK!_

Arya let out a long sigh, an unexpected rush of stupid tears pricking at her eyes. Out of everything that was going wrong, she had really hoped this wouldn't. Pushing back the choking feeling in her throat, Arya tried to look indifferent, turning around and shrugging, picking up another arrow.

"That's the second time he's missed one of my tournaments," she said, trying not to sound bitter and not succeeding.

"I know," Ned sighed. "He says he's sorry, but he's far too tied up at work, and something's come up, and he just can't Arya."

"I'm fine," Arya snapped fiercely, released yet another arrow, a little more violently this time. "Really."

"I know you're disappointed," Ned said, not fooled in the least. "I am too. That's why I thought I'd come instead."

She whipped around, shocked, to see if he was in earnest.

"Seriously?" She asked, unable to stop a big, stupid grin from spreading over her face.

"Yeah, why not?" Ned said, waving her off, but it didn't hide the fact that he was looking a little proud of himself.

"But don't you have work?" Arya asked, trying not to get her hopes up.

"I did," Ned said, his eyes twinkling, "but I called Robert and told him he owed me after that little stunt Joffrey pulled. He seemed to think it was fair, so I'm a free agent."

"Really?" Arya asked, biting her lip. He nodded. She positively beamed with happiness. "Oh Dad! Thank you!"

"Of course," Ned said, smiling as well. "I'm excited, I haven't been to one of these in ages, and it's always nice to see you kick some butt."

Arya rolled her eyes, but she was still smiling.

"I never loose," she said, setting down the bow and arrows.

"That's my girl," Ned said, laughing. Arya laughed too, and then she stopped, realization suddenly creeping into her happiness.

"What's wrong?" Ned asked, concerned.

"Nothing," she said quickly, grimacing.

"Arya..." He said sternly, frowning. She sighed.

"It's just... Umm... I didn't know you were going to go so..." She scratched at the back of her head, trying to think of the best way to explain herself. But Ned already seemed to know.

"Gendry's coming, isn't he?" He asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yes," Arya said painfully.

"Good," Ned said with a smile that Arya couldn't tell if it reassured her or scared her, "I'll save him a seat."

Ooooooooooooooo

He was going to be late, he was sure of it. Gendry could only think, as he zigzagged in and out of traffic on his motorcycle, that Arya was going to kill him. He knew he should have given himself that extra five minutes, but no, he had to stay late, getting caught up on some car he was working on.

He pulled up into the parking lot and practically sprinted into Syrio's, cursing himself internally. Instantly, he was filled with relief. It appeared-miracle upon miracles!-that the tournament itself was running a little late, and hadn't even started yet. Letting out a long sigh of relief, Gendry ran a hand through his black hair.

"Gendry Waters."

Gendry almost screamed. Almost. Luckily, he caught ahold of himself just in time and managed to only give a small jump, turning around to see Ned Stark smiling at him. He could only grimace back.

"Sir," he said, nodding his head respectfully, "it's erm... Nice to see you."

"I suspect not," Ned said with a chuckle. "Last time we saw each other, I said some things that I'm not particularly proud of."

Gendry blinked, surprised. He had no idea how to respond to that, and in desperation, searched the crowd, his eyes alighting on Arya, who was watching their exchange. She gave him an apologetic smile.

"Come on, it's about to start," Ned Stark said, waving for him to follow," I saved you a seat."

"Err, did you?" Gendry stumbled out stupidly. Ned sighed and gave him another pained smile, showing him to two very reasonably good seats. They sat awkwardly.

"I'm probably the last person you wanted to see here," Ned said as they watched the other opponents stepped up onto the mat and the tournament begin.

"No, sir, I can think of much worse," Gendry said, cursing himself when he did, but Ned laughed.

"Yes, I suppose that's true. You can't be too fond of Joffrey, can you?" He said, chuckling. Gendry shifted uncomfortably.

"He's... Not my favorite person," he said carefully. Ned laughed again.

"Don't tell my daughter I used this language, but he's a little shit," Ned said darkly. "I have no idea how Robert lets him get away with all that stuff. He's out of touch, Rob is."

Gendry ran a hand through his hair again, feeling awkward.

"I'm sorry," Ned apologized, "you don't really see much of your Dad, do you?"

"No," Gendry said, feeling his cheeks heat. "Robert's not really interested in me. I doubt he knows I exist half the time."

Ned gave him a long look, and to Gendry's surprise, it wasn't pity that was on his face. It was, humility almost, as if Ned Stark was feeling guilty for the way he had seen him before. Maybe he was rethinking all those things he had said about Gendry being a lowborn.

"You really show up for her, don't you?" Ned said after a long period of silence. Gendry looked over at him in surprise.

"Of course," he said at once. "She's my best friend."

Ned nodded thoughtfully.

"She needs that, someone being there for her," Ned said, watching as Arya took the mat, sticking her opponent in a matter of seconds. "I'm afraid it must seem like everyone's leaving her. Robb's off, married and with a baby on the way. She cried when Jon left, and now Sansa's about to go off to university and Bran's growing away from home as well, and I'm always far more busier than I'd like to be. She needs someone that isn't about to leave her."

"I'll never leave her," Gendry vowed without even thinking about it. Ned looked up at him, and this time it wasn't humility on his face, but respect.

"Sansa told me you and Arya had the best of times at the dance," he said, smiling as Arya beat another opponent. "She said there wasn't a moment that she didn't look over and see you two laughing."

Gendry smiled, thinking about it.

"Yeah," he said, chuckling. "We did."

"She'd probably have more fun at this awards banquet if you went with her," Ned said casually. Gendry blinked in surprise.

"Doesn't that defeat the purpose of making her go, sir?" He asked. Ned laughed, shaking his head.

"Maybe, but I think I can bend the rules a bit," he said. "Besides, that way you could catch up with your Dad, and then he can see what he's missing."

"Missing?" Gendry asked.

"I've only talked to you for ten minutes and I like you infinitely more than I like Joffrey, and I've known him since he was a baby," Ned said. "Trust me, if Robert has any sense, he'll see what a good young man you've turned out to be."

Gendry stared at him in shock, unable to believe it. Ned Stark had paid him a compliment. And, as Arya stuck yet another person, he was sure he heard the sound of hell freezing over


	9. Chapter 9

**Note: This was originally going to be split into two chapters, but I felt so bad for those two filler chapters that I decided to make this one big, huge chapter. And I just wanted to thank you all (again) for those lovely reviews! I really didn't expect such a positive response to this (I did it sort of on a whim), and they've really motivated me to keep writing! On to summary.**

_**Summary: In which Arya sees a little more of Gendry than she had anticipated and Sansa makes a shocking decision. **_

__Arya pulled into a parking space outside Gendry's flat. Getting out, she went to the back and rummaged around, finally finding the huge carton of Chinese food she had brought with her. Lifting it up, she closed the door of her car with her foot, automatically locking it over her shoulder. As she walked up the outside stairs, she smiled, taking in the delicious smell of the food, her stomach growling.

Tonight was the awards banquet, and she had thought she'd swing by Gendry's to give him some Chinese and emotional support. It was promising to be a difficult night for him. He hadn't seen his father in about five years, and the only communication they'd had was through generic, company Christmas cards. Gendry was going to need all the Chinese food he could get.

She swiped the key hidden under the railing outside his door and unlocked it, letting herself in and shutting it behind her. Breezily, she went over to set the Chinese food down (it was outrageously heavy) on the counter.

"Gendry?" She called. "It's me!"

But he didn't answer. She was about to just call again, when she realized why he hadn't answered her. He hadn't heard her. The sound of running water came from his bathroom, and Arya realized, her face heating with a blush, that he was in the shower.

She stood there, frozen, unsure of what to do. Should she shout again? She tried, but her voice was stuck in her throat. No sound came out.

Should she leave? But then again, she had come all this way, it seemed silly to go and waste all that Chinese food. But then... What was she supposed to do?

As her mind ran in turmoil, her heart began to beat in her ears, and though she cursed herself for being so stupid, there was a growing curiosity in the pit of her stomach that was coiling itself to her limbs, giving them a mind of their own. Though her mind screamed in protest, it was drowned out by the humming curiosity that was coursing through her, causing her to walk softly on her tip toes, closer and closer to where the wall turned, to where, when she looked around it, she would see the door of the bathroom open, and straight into the shower.

As she reached the corner of the wall, Arya could hear the voice in her head feebly telling her that this wasn't right, or fair, and that she should stop, right now! This instant! _ARYA STARK!_

Putting her hand on the corner, she leaned forward and peaked around it.

Gendry stood in the shower, his back to her, washing his hair. Arya had never seen so much of him. She had only seen him with his shirt off once, and that was years ago. The change was staggering. He had been a boy then, and was without the strength and build he had now. There was a maturity to him too, she thought as she watched his body move, the water splashing off it as he washed his face, and it struck her at that very moment that he was no longer a boy, but a man.

_He's strong_, she thought softly, her breath caught in her throat as she stood there, completely lost of any sense. The real Arya Stark was probably inside somewhere, yelling at this pathetic girl for being such a... Well, girl. But as it was, she was not heard.

Arya only came to her senses when Gendry reached out and shut off the water. And with the sudden lack of drumming water, it was as though her brain was suddenly turned back on.

Scrambling in a panic, Arya ran backwards, practically falling over herself and then, snatched up the food, running back to the door and pretending to come in again.

"GENDRY!" She roared at the top of her lungs. "IT'S ME! I'VE-"

But her voice was cut off by a yell, as she had taken him by surprise, and then there was a loud thud and a crash. And a good deal of swearing.

Setting the food down on the ground in haste, Arya rushed over to the bathroom to make sure he was all right.

"ARYA!" He shrieked, but it was too late. Though Arya slapped her hands over her eyes, it was too late. She had seen. She had seen... Everything.

"I'm sorry!" She cried. "I'm so sorry! I'll just-"

But as she attempted to turn around and run into the kitchen, hands over her eyes, she smacked into the corner of the wall, hard.

"Fuck!" She cried, gasping in pain, and she felt something wet between her fingers as her head exploded in agony. Blood.

"Holy shit! Arya!" Gendry shouted, and there was sounds of slipping as he must have been clamoring to his feet. "Oh shit! Your face!"

"Oww!" Arya groaned, her head spinning. "Oww, oww fuckedy oww!"

"Hang tight for a second! I'm coming!" Gendry roared, and she heard the sound of him paddling to his room, and then back again as she wheezed in pain, eyes clenched shut.

"Here," he said quickly, suddenly very close. "Arya, move your hands."

She felt his wet fingers on her wrists, gently pulling them away from her face. She gasped, in spite of herself.

"Does it hurt a lot?" He asked gently, looking at the cut on her forehead, brow furrowed in concern. Arya opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Her head hurt too much, but she knew it really wasn't that. As he bent down, dabbing her forehead with a towel, she found herself staring up at him, fixated on his face. She hadn't realized, really, how handsome Gendry had become. She had always felt jealous when she saw other girls eyeing him, but she had never really been looking at him herself.

"Arya?" He asked, and she blinked. He had asked her something, hadn't he? Ugh! Stupid! What was wrong with her?

"What?" She asked stupidly.

"Are you sure you're all right?" He asked, looking into her eyes to make sure she was focusing properly. When had his eyes gotten so blue? "Maybe you have a concussion."

"No!" Arya almost shouted, squeezing her eyes shut and willing herself to stop being so bloody stupid. "No I'm fine! Just dazed. Do you have any pain medication?"

"Yeah," he said. "In the kitchen. I'll get my first aid kit and patch you up as well."

While he went to get the first aid kit, Arya walked into the kitchen, holding the towel to her head and cursing herself continuously. What on earth was wrong with her? What had she been doing? When did she turn into such an empty-brained twat? He was just Gendry for gods sake!

"Got it!" Gendry said, padding back into the room, completely oblivious to the fact that he needed to put some cloths on, other than boxers. "Is that Chinese?"

"Yes," Arya sighed, getting up on a barstool. "I thought it'd be a nice surprise."

"It would have been," Gendry said, giving her an encouraging smile. "If you hadn't caught me at the exact worst moment."

Arya winced.

"But it wasn't your fault," he said breezily, getting out some sterilized wipes and gently taking her face in his hand, turning her chin to the side so that he could clean her wound. Arya felt her stomach pinch in guilt.

"My mum's going to kill me," Arya sighed as Gendry dabbed her wound clean. He smiled, and she tried very hard not to think about the close proximity of their bodies.

"No," he said, getting out a small bandage. "She loves you too much. Besides, your bangs will hide it."

"What are you wearing tonight?" Arya asked as he placed the bandage over her cut, smoothing it out gently with his thumb.

"I've only got one suit, haven't I?" Gendry said, admiring his handiwork and then going into the kitchen, rummaging around before he came up with some pills and a glass of water, handing them to her. She threw them back, drinking quickly.

"Can I have that Chinese?" Gendry asked and she nodded, trying not to think about how badly her head hurt. "So, how are we getting there? Not by limo again I wager."

"No," Arya sighed. "I'll come pick you up. I've got to run home and change."

"Yeah," Gendry said, delving into the Chinese, "I don't think another one of my band t-shirts is suitable for a Baratheon party. Which reminds me, how many of those shirts do you have?"

Arya shrugged, grabbing a container and helping herself to some Chinese as well.

"Are you... Are you nervous, for tonight I mean?" She asked, stuffing food into her mouth (she was really very hungry). Gendry sighed.

"Yeah, I suppose," he said. "I haven't seen him in a long time, you know. I can't say I'm looking forward to it."

"I'm sorry my Dad asked you to go," Arya said softly. "You don't have to, you know. You can still back out."

"What, and be a coward?" He said, frowning. "No. I think it'll be good for him, Robert. You know, remind him I exist and all that."

"He doesn't deserve you," Arya said suddenly, surprising herself when she did. Gendry looked up from his carton of Chinese, and something passed over his face, a tenderness, something that she couldn't quite place.

"You'd better go if you'll be able to get back on time," he said, checking the clock. Arya sighed.

"Yeah, you're probably right. I can't believe how long it takes for Sansa to finish with me," she groaned, quickly stuffing a few more mouthfuls of food in her mouth before hoping off the barstool.

"Thanks for this," Gendry said, shaking his box of Chinese. "Maybe, if the food sucks, we can come back here and eat this."

"Thanks for the offer, but this is Robert Baratheon we're talking about. Food is one of the main components of his life," Arya said, putting on her jacket and grabbing her keys.

"What are the others? Drinking and fucking?" Gendry asked darkly. Arya sighed, watching him as he glared into the box of food, picking around in it, his jaw clenched with repressed anger.

"Are you sure you're going to be all right?" She asked. "It really won't bother me if you don't-"

"I'm going," he said harshly, cutting across her. "Don't be late."

"I never am," she muttered under her breath, wincing from the pain in her head, and then left, slamming the door behind her.

Oooooooooo

Gendry checked his watch again. Nope. No time had passed. She still wasn't late. Why couldn't she be early? He felt like such a douche bag standing in a suit on the sidewalk outside his flat. He stuck out like a sour thumb, and had been getting weird looks from passersby, as though they were trying to tell him that this was not the place to be wearing such things. Suits did not belong to this neighborhood.

Gendry scratched the back of his neck, trying to think of something to do that would kill time, or at least make him look less worthless. He could go back inside, but he'd just get agitated and go outside again, so that was a waste of time. He could try to text Arya again, but he didn't want to annoy her.

To his immense relief, however, he looked up to see her car pulling up the lane, and, once she had slowed to a stop, he ran to it and wrenched the door open, getting inside.

"Just before I check, I'd like to know, exactly how many texts did you send me? Three hundred?" she asked, putting her foot back on the accelerator and driving down the lane.

"More like two," Gendry grunted, putting on his seatbelt.

"And how long, exactly, were you waiting out there?" She demanded.

"Twenty minutes."

"Twat," she scoffed, smiling. He laughed too, because she was right, it really was absurd. Letting out a long sigh, Gendry turned to look at Arya for the first time that he had entered the car.

She looked nice. Once again, Sansa's skills had proved to be in top form. Her hair was left straight and untouched, but she was wearing dark skinny jeans, a sheer gold top that matched her dangling gold earrings, and a black blazer. Simple, yet effective.

"What?" she demanded, catching him.

"Nothing," he said quickly, trying not to blush.

"You were looking at me weirdly," she accused, frowning. "Is there something on my face?"

"No!" Gendry said quickly. Now he was definitely blushing. "It's just weird, seeing you all dressed up. You almost look like a different person."

"I know," Arya snarled, glaring at the road ahead. "I hate it. I look like a pretentious, stuck-up, snob."

"No you don't," Gendry said, brow furrowed. "You look really nice. Really grown-up."

He had expected her to say something snarky back, but to his surprise, he saw her blushing, looking pleased.

"Really?" She asked. He blinked.

"Ummm yeah," Gendry said, feeling like this was a crucial moment, like he should be saying something here, but all he could manage was that. It was pathetic.

"You look smart yourself," Arya said, her face turning, if possible, redder.

"Really?" Gendry said, laughing.

"Don't sound so surprised that I'm paying you a compliment," she snapped. "I can be nice sometimes, you know."

"Now _that_ I don't believe," Gendry said, laughing as she hit him.

"Stupid," she said under her breath, causing him to laugh harder.

"So," he asked, after about fifteen minutes of driving. "Where is this thing?"

"At the Baratheon mansion, in King's Landing," Arya said.

"The Baratheon mansion?" Gendry said, trying not to sound as bitter as he felt. "But with all the Lannister finery I suppose. I hear my step mother's a real-"

"Bitch?" Arya supplied, cutting across him. "Because if that's what you were going to say, it'd be true."

"Great," Gendry sighed. "Just great."

"Don't worry," Arya said quickly, "you probably won't see her much, or even have to speak to her. She never likes talking to me anyway. Thank god."

Gendry chuckled softly, and they lapsed back into a silence that remained the rest of the way to King's Landing. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence, but that didn't mean that Gendry wasn't feeling a slow, cold dread creep under his skin, sinking into his stomach like heavy ice. As they pulled up to a set of thick, iron gates with stag's on them, he felt his palms begin to sweat.

Arya rolled down the window to talk to the security attendant standing in a little both just outside the gate.

"Name?" The security attendant asked.

"Arya Stark," Arya said promptly, and it struck Gendry just how much she sounded like a Stark just then. Proud, honest, good. If only his father had such a reputation.

"Okay," the attendant said, checking her off the list, and then peered into the car, looking at Gendry, "and?"

Arya threw a look over at Gendry before saying, "and guest."

This seemed good enough for the security attendant, who pushed a button and gave them a nod, the gates slowly beginning to creek open.

Arya drove forward slowly, allowing Gendry to take in a part of his life that he would never be privy to. Little lanterns lined the long driveway, glowing in the early twilight. Two fields of grass were on either side of them, spotted tastefully with willow trees, all perfectly pruned, their branches swaying in the breeze. Ahead of them stood the Baratheon mansion, towering impressively, it's deep red wood and stoned walls starting to fall into the shadow of the waning day.

Arya pulled up to the entrance, and immediately both their doors were opened by valets dressed in white. If Gendry had felt out of place before, it was nothing to how he felt now. He gulped, unbuttoning the top of his shirt so he could breathe.

"You all right?" Arya's voice floated over the sound of his heart pounding in his ears. Gendry turned to her, grimacing.

"Yeah," he lied. "It's huge, isn't it?"

"Mhmm," Arya agreed, slinking her arm with his effortlessly, "Winterfell isn't nearly as big as this, or as grand, but I like it better all the same."

They started walking forward, along with the other guests, up the steps and into the opened doors of the huge house.

"I've never been to Winterfell," Gendry commented, trying not to notice the huge picture of the Baratheon family portrait, Joffrey's little shit face leering at him from on the wall.

"No you haven't, have you?" Arya gasped in outrage. "You should come sometime! But... Maybe not when my parents are there..."

"I thought your Dad was getting around to like me," Gendry pointed out, frowning.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean that he and my Mum are particularly thrilled that my best friend is a man five years my senior," Arya sighed as they walked through the house and to the back, where a huge white tent had been set up, more lights decorated around it and flowers too. Gendry half expected someone to release a set of doves at any moment.

"Ahh," he said, now passing feeling nervous and moving on to feeling sick. Maybe Arya had been right. Maybe he should have stayed home.

"Arya, Gendry, it's good to see you!"

Ned Stark appeared out of the fray, looking smart in a grey suit and navy tie, smiling at them both.

"Dad," Arya said, grinning as well.

"Sir," Gendry said respectfully, dipping his head.

"I was getting worried about you, Arya," Ned said. "The party's already begun."

"Yeah I know," Arya sighed. "Sansa took forever trying to pick out the right outfit for me. This top's not even mine, it's hers."

"She did a good job," Ned said, laughing. "You look top form, Arya, all grown up. And so do you Gendry."

Gendry grimaced again.

"ARYA STARK!"

Gendry felt his heart drop to his knees and Arya gripped his arm tightly as Robert Baratheon came swaggering towards them, red in the face and laughing, a glass of scotch in his hand.

"Good to see you, Robert," Arya said weakly, and Gendry could sense her nervousness. Ned also looked awkward, as though he was praying his best friend wouldn't do something unfortunate.

"We had quite the fuss over you about that limo incident, didn't we?" Robert bellowed, laughing. "Your father was so angry, weren't you Ned? Hahaha!"

He seemed not to notice that no one else was laughing.

"And who's your friend, hmmm?" Robert asked, his eyes passing over Gendry glassily. _My god, _Gendry thought, _he's already drunk. Not five minutes into the party and he's drunk. And he doesn't even recognize me either. _

"Gendry," Ned said to Robert, looking slightly scandalized. "Gendry Waters."

"Nice to meet you," Robert said distractedly, eyeing a pretty girl that was walking by. Gendry felt a huge fire of rage burst within him, turning his cheeks hot. Arya squeezed his arm, as if pleading with him not to loose his temper.

"Robert..." Ned said, taking hold of Robert's arm. "Robert, it's Gendry."

Robert blinked, confused for a few minutes, and then stared at Gendry, narrowing his beady little eyes. And then, suddenly, he threw his head back and roared with laughter.

"Gods be good!" He shouted. "I wouldn't have recognized you in a million years! Gendry, Gendry Waters. Of course it's you, with that one on your arm! You've got that Baratheon blood in you yet!"

Gendry clenched his jaw, his hands curled into fists, trying with all his might not to punch his own father in the face. He tried to tell himself over and over again that this was what he expected. This was his father. He had never been anything but a fat, selfish drunk.

Ned looked horrified and Arya winced visibly. None of this was noticed by Robert, who took a hearty swig of scotch, still laughing.

"How's your mother, boy?" He asked, smiling.

Arya gasped allowed, but Gendry hardly heard her. All he could hear was blood crashing in his ears.

"She's dead," he spat through gritted teeth, so furious he could barely breathe.

"Oh, right, of course," Robert said, shaking his head and waving Gendry off. "I'm sorry."

Sorry. Sorry. He wasn't sorry! He didn't care! He hadn't even bothered to go to her funeral, or call, or anything! He didn't give two shits!

"Yes," Gendry hissed, taking a deep breath. Arya's fingers pinched his arm. "She died three years ago. You weren't there."

"Yes, yes, I know," Robert said dismissively, looking almost grumpy that Gendry had reproached him, and then drained his scotch glass empty. "It's really too bad, but I was tied up, other business and all that. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go talk to the Frey's. It was good to see you, boy."

And with that, he was gone, lumbering off into the crowd of people, leaving Gendry with a surge of rage, anger and hurt that he didn't know what to do with.

"Listen I'm-"

"Don't," Gendry said sharply, cutting across Ned's apology. "Arya was right. I shouldn't have come."

He broke from her and rushed away from the tent and back into the house, feeling as though he was being strangled, his hands aching for something to grab hold of, to smash to pieces, to rip apart.

"Gendry!"

As he ripped out of the house and down the stairs, his throat burned for alcohol, begging for it. Alcohol would take the pain away. A good, long drink would stifle the pounding ache in his chest.

"GENDRY!"

This time, she caught him, just as he walked out onto one of the lawns, the willows trees swaying around him merrily, as if mocking him.

"Stop!"

"Get off me!" he roared, ripping his arm from her violently and nearly throwing her to the ground. At once he knew he had gone to far. The look on her face was enough to draw him back into himself, his emotions no longer blinding him.

Guilt surged through him, replacing the rage, and all at once he felt deflated, as though the fire had been drained from him, just leaving a broken shell.

"I'm sorry," he sighed, running a hand over his face. "I didn't mean-"

"Don't," Arya cut across him softly. "You don't have to apologize."

"I just... I can't... I can't control my anger towards him," Gendry stumbled out painfully, looking anywhere but her, his face burning with humiliation.

"Who could blame you?" she asked. "Hell, I'm angry at him too, and he's not even my Dad."

"He abandoned us!" Gendry yelled, not at her but at the expanse of willow trees shifting in the dusk. "He left us with shit, and do you think he gives one single fuck about it? Do you think he's sorry? Do you think he feels ashamed for the way he treated my mum? No! He doesn't feel sorry! He doesn't care!"

Arya stood in silence, watching him, listening.

"She loved him!" Gendry shouted. "She loved him and he didn't even give a shit about her! Do you know how many times she made me call him, in the weeks before she died? Ten, twenty, fifty times! And do you know what? He didn't even answer the phone! I had to talk to his secretary again and again and again, and every single fucking time, she'd tell me that she'd have Robert Baratheon get back to me, and did he? NO! NOT EVEN WHEN SHE WAS DYING! NOT EVEN THEN!"

When Gendry turned back to Arya, he was surprised to see that there were tears swimming in her eyes.

"Don't pity me," he spat.

"I don't pity you," she said softly, coming towards him, and to his surprise, she took his face in her hands, and then, reached up with her thumb and wiped something off his cheek. A tear. He hadn't even noticed he'd been crying, and it humiliated him to think he had done so.

But Arya didn't seem to care.

"You're worth ten of him, of all of them," she said softly. "And so was your mum. They don't deserve you."

Gendry blinked rapidly, pulling away and wiping the tears off his face.

"Do you want me to take you home?" she asked quietly. He thought about it.

"No," he sighed. "I'm starving. Let's just go in and get dinner, and then we can leave."

"All right," Arya said, and then she reached out, offering him her hand. He took it, entwining his fingers in hers.

"Thank you," he said softly as they walked towards the house. She looked over at him and smiled gently, giving his hand a squeeze.

It appeared that the few minutes they had spent outside had not been a few minutes at all, but much longer than Gendry had thought. Everyone had already gathered in the tent, and it appeared that Robert Baratheon was making a speech.

"... And so, I hope you all know now to steer clear of the plants," he was saying, and laughter rippled across the crowd. "But, before you all sit down, I think there's something that my son, Joffrey would like to say."

Arya and Gendry exchanged confused looks as Joffrey stood up. What could that prick possibly have to say of importance?

"Sansa," he said, "would you come up here?"

Gendry's heart dropped as Sansa walked towards Joffrey, looking like she might throw up. But, no... It couldn't be. Surely he must be mistaken. Surely Joffrey wasn't going to-

"Sansa, we've been dating for quite some time now," Joffrey was saying. "And, well, we're practically family, with the business and whatnot, but I thought I'd like to make it official."

"Oh my god," Gendry breathed in horror. He felt Arya's fingers clench his hand so hard, she could probably feel every bone there.

"Sansa, will you marry me?"

There was a collective gasp as Joffrey sank to one knee, offering a ring to Sansa, who stood there, an unreadable expression on her face.

"NO!" Arya shouted shamelessly, drawing quite a few angry murmurs from the crowd. "Sansa, NO!"

Sansa didn't seem to have heard her, and if she did, she ignored her.

"Yes."

**Oh lordly, I feel like I'm going to get a lot of Sansa hate for this. But this is crucial to the way I want things to go, so..**


	10. Chapter 10

**I usually only post a chapter a day, but I just couldn't help myself and had to post this one as well. This is so hard for me, because I really can't tell you guys about Sansa or I'll just spoil later chapters. So, unfortunately, I'll just have to say: keep reading! Things will all play out as I planned them to.**

_**Summary: In which Gendry prepares to embark on what will certainly prove to be an awkward bachelor party, and Hot Pie accidentally causes Arya to make a rash decision. **_

__Gendry sighed, setting yet another t-shirt in his duffle bag, trying to remind himself why he had agreed to come to this damn thing anyway. Thinking about it, he was probably the _last_ person who should be going to Joffrey's bachelor party.

"We asked him to invite his friends," Jon had said when he called Gendry up, begging him to go, "but it turns out that he doesn't have any. So we thought it'd be a good idea to invite you."

"That has got to be the worst idea I've ever heard of, no offense mate," Gendry had said, scoffing.

"Yeah, that's probably true," Jon sighed, "and we wouldn't have actually called you and asked, but it turns out your Dad sort of requested that you go."

"My Dad?" Gendry sputtered, sure it was some sort of joke.

"Yeah," Jon said, almost sounding apologetic," he seemed to feel really bad about what he said to you at the party."

"I doubt it," Gendry muttered under his breath.

"I don't know, mate," Jon said with a sigh, "but we would really appreciate it if you came. It'll just make it one person less awkward."

"Forget it," Gendry snapped. "Joffrey hates me. It'd only ruin it for everyone."

"Joffrey can suck my dick," Jon said darkly, and Gendry laughed, "you're going."

"Isn't this bachelor party supposed to be something, you know, he enjoys?" Gendry asked, still chuckling.

"I suppose, but does Joffrey ever really enjoy anything? Besides being a prick?" Jon asked.

"Well, thanks for the invite, but I'm going to sit this one out," Gendry said. There was a long, awkward pause.

"Look, I didn't want it to come to this, but I'm afraid you sort of don't have a choice," Jon said.

"What?" Gendry demanded. "Why?"

"Robert insists," Jon sighed. "I really do think this is his idea of making things right between you two."

"Then he's mental," Gendry growled.

"At least he's trying," Jon supplied lamely.

"What if I don't want to make things right?" Gendry demanded.

"He's already paid for your room, mate. You really want to go and piss him off? Who knows, maybe this could be a good thing. Maybe he'll start, you know, chipping in for stuff and remembering your birthday. He's not a bad man, Gendry, just... Flawed," Jon said reasonably. Gendry sighed.

"Fine," he snarled, "as long as Joffrey knows that this was not my idea."

"Trust me," Jon said, "he knows."

And now, as a result, Gendry found himself packing for what would no doubt prove a very painful weekend. When he had accepted, his father had been thrilled, or so Arya had told him. Arya, that was another thing to consider.

She was _furious, _when Sansa had accepted Joffrey's proposal, so much so that Ned had asked Gendry to escort her out of the party and drive her home, Arya ranting the entire way, absolutely flabbergasted.

"It's just so sudden!" She had cried that night, stabbing at the left over Chinese food with her fork, as though imagining it was Joffrey's eye.

"Is it?" Gendry asked through a mouthful of food. He had decided to take her back to his flat in the hope that she would cool off, or calm down, or _something_.

"Well... No," Arya grumbled. "I mean, Sansa has been acting weird for weeks, but I thought it was going to be because she was going to break up with him! Not marry him! This is ridiculous! I can't believe my Mum and Dad are actually letting this happen! She's far too young!"

"She just graduated," Gendry pointed out. "And she's nineteen. She's of age, so technically, she's not too young."

"No!" Arya shouted, waving her fork at him. "She doesn't know what she's doing! Is she mental? She's going to have to spend the rest of her life with that twat!"

"I know," Gendry said, sighing. "I really don't understand it either."

"I just can't believe it!" Arya cried, slamming down her food. "It makes me sick!"

"Speaking of your parents, what do they think?" Gendry asked.

"I don't know, do I?" Arya snapped. "You dragged me out of there before I could have a proper talk with them."

"Talk?" Gendry said, raising an eyebrow. "More like a shouting match, I think."

"Whatever," she snarled, leaping to her feet and going to get a soda out of the fridge, "but they can't be against it, or he would have never proposed."

"Maybe this is what Sansa wants," Gendry sighed.

"It can't be what she wants!" Arya bellowed. "It just can't!"

"I don't know," Gendry said thoughtfully, "she always seemed meant for that world, you know? She fits in so much better than you or I did."

"I don't care," Arya said, looking close to tears. "It's wrong! It's wrong and I'll make her see it, even if it kills me!"

But she didn't make her see it. Arya and Sansa had fights before, but never like this. It had absolutely destroyed their relationship to the point where Arya admitted just the sight of Sansa made her angry. Gendry tried to reason with Arya, for her own sake, but that was in vain as well.

"I'll never forgive her for this," she had vowed darkly. "I won't just sit idly by as she makes the worst decision of her life."

Gendry couldn't help but agree, but what was there to do? When he had talked to Arya's brothers, they all seemed to agree that fighting it was futile. Robb had reasoned that if they couldn't talk her out of not dating him, not matter how hard they had tried, than there was no hope for talking her out of this.

"Besides," he had said in a very resigned voice, "knowing Sansa, it'll probably just strengthen her resolve if we do."

The only person who seemed pleased was Robert Baratheon. Arya often complained about how happy he was, how perfect he thought Joffrey and Sansa were together, and how wonderful it was that the family business would finally be a family business.

"Our families should have always been joined as one," Arya said, mimicking him and then scowling.

Ned and Catelyn Stark seemed to be very unsure about the whole thing, but, much to Arya's dismay, they seemed determined to support Sansa in her decision, and act accordingly. Gendry knew Arya had hoped that they would rally against the wedding, and her disappointment when they didn't had been acute.

As it was, he also felt that she was far from okay with him going to the bachelor party. Though he had explained it to her, and she had said she was fine, he couldn't help but notice the look of betrayal that had flowered across her face.

"I'll be miserable the entire time, I swear," he had promised her, but somehow, that just wasn't enough.

Gendry sighed, checking the time. Jon, Robb and Bran would be here any minute, along with Joffrey, to take him to wherever they were going. Jon and Robb had planned it out, promising that it would be a 'weekend none of them would forget,' which, Gendry had a nagging suspicion, probably meant that there was going to be a lot of alcohol and probably a strip club involved. A strip club with Joffrey. He could only imagine.

He zipped up the duffle bag and let out a long, slow sigh. What he wouldn't give to just spend the weekend in his flat. Playing video games with Arya, or maybe going out and kicking a ball around. She had always said she would teach him how to hold a bow and arrow and shoot, but with all the tensions going on with her parents, it had never happened. He made a mental note to ask her about that again.

As he carried his duffle bag out into the sitting area, he thought that he'd rather go to _work_ than this. But Jon, Robb and Bran weren't so bad. Robb, who was expecting a baby any day with his wife Jeyne, was probably only likely to talk only about that, as was expected with couples who were anticipating their first child. Gendry didn't mind much, though, he rather liked Arya's brothers, and envied her for them. They were such a real family, and cared very much about her and each other, as his half siblings never would.

He was also infinitely grateful that when they discovered that he was friends with Arya, unlike Ned, her brothers had not threatened to decapitate them. Of course, when they had found out about their friendship, Arya had been ten, and had invited him to go for a game of soccer with them, whereas Ned had been told that she probably spent the night at his flat. And besides, he reminded himself, Ned Stark was warming to him. Slowly, but warming none the less.

There was a knock at his door, and, sighing again, Gendry went to open it.

Jon gave him an almost depressed smile.

"Ready for the bachelor party?" He asked, grimacing.

"It'll be a night to remember, I'm sure," Gendry said, mirroring him with the grimace and picking up his duffle bag, feeling as though he were not stepping over the threshold of his door, but unto a battlefield.

Oooooooooooooo

"This is boring."

"What? We haven't even started! You just cracked an egg! We haven't even measured the other ingredients!" Hot Pie protested as they stood in his kitchen, Arya sulking in the corner, glaring at the line of ingredients as though they had insulted her.

"Couldn't we go do something? Play video games, kick the ball around, or, hey listen to this! Or I could teach you how to do archery!" Arya whined, throwing away the eggshells in her hand. Hot Pie curled his nose, as though the very thought of exercise set him off.

"No," he said. "Besides, isn't that the sort of bullshit you do with Gendry?"

"And you wonder why I chose to hang out with him more than you," she grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest moodily.

"Come on Arry! This is baking! This is fun!" Hot Pie said, as though she was soft. "I thought girls liked to bake!"

"Do I look like most girls?" She demanded, looking insulted. "Girls are idiots. And what's fun about putting a bunch of eggs and flour together? Hmm?"

"You're moody," Hot Pie snapped. "What? Are you on your period or something?"

"Ugh, why am I even hanging out with you?" Arya spat, a disgusted look on her face. Hot Pie measured some milk into a measuring cup.

"Because Gendry's gone off with your brothers for Joffrey's bachelor party and I'm all you've got left," Hot Pie said bluntly, starting to mix the cake they were supposed to be baking together.

"ARGH!" Arya groaned in frustration. "That stupid wedding! Don't even get me started! I can't talk about it! It's not fair, that they get to go galavanting off and I get stuck here baking cakes!"

"I don't know why you're so upset about missing the bachelor party," Hot Pie said, not even insulted by her words. "It'll probably suck anyway."

"Yes I know," Arya pouted. "It's the principle of the whole damn thing."

"Trust me," Hot Pie said absentmindedly, "you're probably just be missing Gendry getting himself sussed and then having sex with some prostitute or something-HEY! Where are you going?"

"I'll call you later," Arya said, snatching up her things at light speed. "I've got to, uhh, go do something."

"You're not thinking of going, are you?" Hot Pie yelled in alarm, but she was already half way out the door. "ARRY! ARYA!"

But it was too late. She was already gone.

**Oh Arya, what are you getting yourself into now? The next chapter will be up tomorrow =)**


	11. Chapter 11

**AHHH the season finale of the tv series is tonight and I'm so excited/not ready for it to end. I hate waiting, which is why I try to get out chapters as quickly as possible. On that note, as I have previously forewarned, my finals week is this upcoming week, and I'm actually going to be swamped, so I hope that my early posting of that last chapter won't cause delays in the future (I try to keep at least a chapter a head of my posting schedule, if that makes sense). But I really hate studying, and this story is the perfect excuse to distract myself, so we'll see =p**

_**Summary: In which Arya goes to no place for a lady.**_

___This is madness Arya Stark_, Arya thought to herself as she finished clipping back part of her hair. She sighed, but there was just no talking herself out of it. Once she had an idea in her head, she just couldn't seem to shake it. And though it was madness, she knew that she'd _really_ go mad if she stayed home like a good girl, doing what she was told.

She wouldn't have even thought of leaping in her car, racing home and stuffing cloths into a bag before taking off, speeding to Gendry's, where, by luck or insanity, she had just caught her brothers pulling away down the lane, and had followed them down here, to some hotel in King's Landing, if it hadn't been for what Hot Pie had said.

Even now, as she tried to talk herself out of what she was doing (to just _go home, damn it!_), it was what Hot Pie had said that set her blood boiling and her will firm. She could not, _could not_, even entertain the idea of Gendry drunk, laughing, with some half-dressed tart falling all over him. Her mind burned with the idea of him looking at whoever she was, touching whoever she was, and it wiped out all sense and reason. There was no way in seven hells that she was ever going sit by idle and let that happen.

Arya Stark just simply wasn't a girl to sit around and mope about things. She wasn't about to let some floozy take a stab at Gendry. She'd rather sit through a thousand horrible Lannister dinners than know that she could have stopped it and didn't. Even thinking about it now made her crazy, an itch of blood and fire under her skin. The madness called for action, and that was exactly what she had planned on doing.

She knew where he was, with her brothers and that little shit Joffrey at some strip club downtown in the city. She wouldn't be able to get in, not being seventeen, but that had never stopped her from going to clubs before. A fake ID could fix that problem in a shot, and all she had to do was dress the part, maybe lie a little, and she was in. It was something she had done before, until her father had caught her and made her stop. She had stopped, but hadn't destroyed the ID like she'd promised. For some reason, she just sort of knew it might come in handy one day.

Looking at herself in the mirror, she thought she'd done a good job at grabbing cloths with only a few seconds of time to spare. She had swiped her only dress, black, form fitting and long-sleeved, with a leather jacket, with thin and see-through black tights. Her favorite touch were the shoes, which she had the good sense to take from Sansa, dark blue high heels that had added at least three inches to her height. It wasn't bad, and it might just work.

It was a short drive to the club, and she found parking relatively close to it. That didn't stop Arya from putting her knife that Jon had given her, Needle, folded closed in her bra. It wasn't the nicest neighborhood, and she wasn't about to get jumped.

Walking up to the club, Arya tried to shake off her seventeen-year-old self and threw her shoulders back, standing tall, trying to make her facial expression regal, proud and approachable. She was met with a man at the door, who immediately demanded her ID. Not fazed in the least, she pulled it out, not smiling (smiling was always a sign of being a smart ass, which was never a good idea).

"Cat Smith?" the man asked, snorting.

"Cat's short for Caterina," Arya said breezily, "but everyone's always mucking it up, and so I prefer Cat. It's shorter, simpler."

The man looked at her, as though he didn't buy it in the least.

"You're skinny, and short," he said, still hoarding her ID.

"Yes?" Arya demanded, raising an eyebrow in her best impression of Sansa she could muster. "Is that a crime?"

"It is if you're underage," the man said gruffly.

Arya sighed, slouching a little, pulling her face into what she hoped was a very dejected expression.

"It's hopeless," she sighed. "I'm carded where ever I go. If I didn't wear make-up, I'd look alike an eight-year-old."

"My girlfriend's like that," the man said, softening only just. "Can't even go get a bloody drink without someone threatening to throw us out."

There was a long pause where Arya gave the man a sympathetic grimace and he sighed, looking dubious.

"Here," he said, giving her back her card. "Enjoy your evening, Cat."

"Same to you," Arya said, giving him a polite smile, walking past him purposefully, doing her very best not to smirk smugly. She couldn't believe her luck. That was the easiest it had ever been!

As soon as she stepped into the club, she despised it. Why people actually enjoyed being in a dark, hot room with a bunch of half dressed women and bad music was beneath her, but, each to their own, she supposed.

It was not hard at all to locate Joffrey or her brothers. Jon and Robb were already very drunk, laughing loudly and falling all over each other while Joffrey scowled, throwing back a shot, as though there was nothing better to do. Poor Robb, Arya thought to herself, trying not to smile, he really was living to the fullest as long as he could. With Jeyne swollen to the size of a watermelon, he could kiss this sort of life goodbye, and not that he'd miss it. At least, not too much. Bran was the only one that wasn't drunk, but looking slightly awkward, his hand cupped around a glass of beer, staring into it as though he was determined not to be eyeing all the women walking by, their shirts noticeably absent.

But where was Gendry? Arya searched for him, but in the din and poor lighting, his black hair and blue eyes were no where to be found. After a good ten minutes of looking, she decided to give up for the time being, going to sit at the bar and ordering herself something to drink, trying not to look as Jon catcalled at strippers dancing seductively.

This, she decided with a sigh, was not one of her best ideas. She couldn't help but dread that she was already too late, and that the reason she couldn't find Gendry was that he had made off with some exotic dancer, who was no doubt a much better kisser than she was.

"'Ello lovely," a very drunk older man slurred, practically running into the bar and eying her up and down. "Fancy a walk?"

"No," Arya snapped. "Go away."

"You're a pretty one, aren't you?" He asked, looking at her breasts, and Arya felt her cheeks flush with discomfort. "All young, and untouched."

He reached out and ran a finger down her arm.

"Leave off."

Arya jumped violently, whipping around to see Gendry, who had appeared from thin air, drink in hand and jaw clenched, glaring impressively at the older man, who instantly removed his finger from her arm.

"Now see here-" the man began, looking angry.

"I said leave off," Gendry snarled, taking a step forward and placing a protective hand on Arya's shoulder. "She's my sister, and you'll do well to leave her alone."

"Your sister?" The man asked, reeling backwards drunkenly and giving Arya a look. "This isn't no place for a sister. What kind of man brings his sister here?"

And then he lumbered off, muttering to himself, and Gendry and Arya watched him go, both struck dumb.

"What are you doing here?" Gendry demanded, turning back to her, and Arya felt herself unable to answer. Though he was extremely eloquent, there was no denying that Gendry was drunk, and was probably going to get even more drunk.

"Why'd you call me your sister?" Arya demanded right back, determined not to answer his question. She couldn't very well bloody say _why_ she was there. She'd sound absolutely pathetic, which is how she felt at that moment. _Stupid! _"You're not my brother."

Something very dark passed over Gendry's face, and the muscle in his jaw jumped. Looking angry, he pulled out the chair next to her so suddenly that she jumped again.

"No," he growled. "I'm not you're brother, am I? I'm just a bastard, isn't that it? Just a low-born bastard."

Arya opened her mouth, but no sound came out. What?

"Oh go away," he spat, ordering another drink. "Go back to the hotel, where you belong. The girls here don't mind who I am, or where I'm from. I'll show them a good time, maybe even fuck one."

"Fine!" Arya shouted, leaping from her seat. "What do I care what you do? You can fuck every single girl in here for all I care!"

And with that she stormed off, her heart racing with fury. Stupid, bull-headed boy! Stupid her for even coming here, and stupid her for mucking things up when she did! Why did she care what he did anyway? She didn't! She had meant what she said, that he could fuck every girl in this club and-

"Arya!"

Her heart sank as she turned around to face Bran standing behind her, looking angry.

"What the _hell _are you doing here?" He demanded, walking towards her and then looking around, as if wanting desperately to shield her from the scarring sights the club had to offer.

"I... Uhh..." Arya said, trying to come up with something less pathetic than the truth. "You didn't think I'd miss out on all the, err, fun, did you?"

Bran's glare was murderous.

"Where are you staying?" He all but shouted over the music that was blasting.

"Where you are," Arya admitted guiltily. Bran took a deep, shuttering breath.

"What were you thinking Arya? This is no place for you!" He roared.

"What, because I'm not a man?" She shouted back, all of Gendry's angry words starting to get to her.

"Just go back to the hotel!" Bran bellowed. "We'll sort this out in the morning!"

"Fine!" Arya cried. "I was just going there anyway! This has to be the worst bachelor party I've ever heard of!"

Turning on her heel, she marched out of the club, away from Bran, Gendry, and everyone else. And though her anger could burn a city to the ground, she couldn't help but feel like the biggest fool that had ever walked the earth.

Ooooooooooooo

Gendry groaned, his head feeling like it was splitting open, as though someone was pounding inside it. Wait... On second thought, there _was_ something pounding. A fist on the door. Bloody hell.

Dragging his battered body from the comfort of the bed, Gendry went to answer it, feebly trying to tell whoever it was to shut the bloody hell up, but his tongue was too thick and dry to make anything he said intelligible.

Fumbling with the lock, Gendry finally wrenched the damn thing open, finding himself face-to-face with the Stark brothers, all looking angry.

"What?" He groaned, running a sleepy hand over his face. "Did you have to pound so loudly?"

"It's Arya," Jon said. "She seems to have decided to tag along."

Gendry froze. _Arya!_ Somewhere in his drunken haze, he had completely forgotten about Arya! And Jon was right, she _had _been there last night. And they had fought. Why was it again? Oh yes.

_"You're not my brother."_

No, he would never be her brother, or her equal, or any of that, and it was always less than nice to get a friendly reminder of that now and then.

"Why?" He asked. "Why is she here?"

"Beats us," Robb sighed, looking like the night had not treated him well. "I can't understand what she could have been thinking. It was cute when she was little, tagging along, but now it's just getting out of hand."

"We should have seen it coming," Jon snapped, jumping to her defense. "This whole wedding business has been really hard on Arya, fighting with Sansa and all that."

"Still, it's no excuse-"

"Sorry to interrupt," Gendry said, cutting across Bran, "but why exactly did you wake me up if your all going to stand around and argue? Can't you do that while I sleep?"

All the Stark brothers exchanged awkward looks.

"What?" Gendry demanded.

"Sorry mate," Bran offered.

"What?"

"We called up our Dad," Robb sighed, "and naturally he wants Arya home straight away. Apparently she had told him she was at a friends house, and he's not too happy. But the thing is... It would be unfair if we called off the bachelor party now."

"And you're sort of the one Joffrey likes the least," Jon said apologetically.

"You want me to drive her home, don't you?" Gendry said, figuring it out quickly enough. They all nodded.

"That's about it," Bran said, rocking back and forth on his feet awkwardly.

"Why can't she just drive herself home?" Gendry demanded. "It's her damn car anyway."

"Dad thinks, looking at the present situation, that Arya can't really be trusted, and I agree with him," Robb said. "She's being too irrational right now, and I think it'd be a good idea if she wasn't alone at the moment."

Gendry let out a long groan.

"Fine," he relented. "I never wanted to be here anyway. Let me just wash up and get dressed, and I'll meet you down in the lobby in a few minutes, all right?"

"Thank you," Robb said sincerely. Gendry tried not to scowl when he closed the door.

Normally, he would have been fine with driving Arya anywhere. More than fine, actually, but right now... He could imagine it'd be nothing but awkward, and if he was honest with himself, he wasn't really over his anger towards her. It was childish, he knew, but for some reason, he couldn't shake it.

If he was going to be honest with himself, he knew it wasn't Arya he was mad at. It was himself. He was just so frustrated, by his feelings for her (he might as well start admitting to himself that he had feelings towards her. At this point, it was getting ridiculous to keep lying to himself), by the fact that she didn't even seem to notice them, or how hard it was, feeling constantly so beneath her. Like he'd never be good enough.

He made quick work of packing and washing up, splashing a good deal of cold water on his face, and then made his way out of his room, feeling less than excited about what awaited him down in the lobby.

When he got down there, he saw Bran, Robb and Jon all looking solemn, standing up when they saw him, and revealing a very angry and humiliated looking Arya, who refused to even look at him, glaring down at the floor.

"Thanks again Gendry," Jon said, placing a hand on the mortified Arya's shoulder. "We really appreciate it, right Arya?"

She didn't reply and Jon sighed, giving Gendry an apologetic look, as though he knew exactly what kind of car ride Gendry was in store for.

"Well, you two best be off," Robb sighed. "We really can't leave Dad waiting any longer, or he might cause some damage. It really doesn't do well for him to stew about things, you know."

His attempt at humor fell flat. No one laughed.

"Bye then," Gendry said flatly, and Arya wordlessly picked up her bag, not even looking at her brothers, and followed him out of the lobby and to the parking lot, showing him to her car without saying a word and then handing him the keys, eyes downcast.

They drove in silence. Minutes passed, minutes that slowly built up upon themselves until it had nearly been a whole hour and she hadn't even said a word. Unable to bare it any longer, Gendry cleared his throat.

"Are you going to pout like that the entire way back to Winterfell?" He asked, glancing sideways at her. She scowled.

"I'm not pouting," she said in a low voice, crossing her arms over her chest. Gendry couldn't help it, he laughed.

"Stop it!" Arya cried. "Stop... Treating me like a child! You're all treating me like a child!"

"That's because you're acting like one," Gendry snapped back. Arya opened her mouth, ready to shout some insult or protest at him, but she was cut off by the sound of her phone ringing.

"Oh fuck," she swore under her breath when she saw who it was, and then, with a loud sigh, picked it up. "Hello Dad."

There was a pause...

"What? No! We're driving home, how could she be with us?" Arya said over the phone. There was another short pause. "WHAT?"

Gendry gave her a quick, questioning look, but she wasn't looking at him, and didn't see it.

"Have you checked with Joffrey?" She demanded. Another pause. "And Robert? Everywhere? But.. But... I don't understand, where could she be?"

The pause after this question was a long one, and when Gendry glanced back at Arya again, she looked grave.

"Oh, okay then. Yeah Dad, I'll call you right back. Bye."

And then she hung up the phone.

"What's going on? What's the matter?" Gendry asked, his mind swimming with confusion. Arya stared down at the phone in her lap.

"It's Sansa," she said softly, looking stunned. "She's gone missing."

**If it sounded like Sansa had been murdered or something, don't worry, she didn't (but that's all I'm going to say because I don't want to give anything away)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Oh my god. Saw the season finale. So many feelings. So many tears. I can't wait for all the gendry x arya scenes next season! WHY CAN'T IT COME RIGHT NOW DAMN IT!**

_**Summary: In which Arya and Gendry search for Sansa**_

__They searched everywhere. The park. The grocery store. The mall. No Sansa. She was just simply no where to be found.

The bachelor party was canceled, and Jon and the rest of Arya's brothers were combing King's Landing, making sure Sansa hadn't ventured down there. As it was, there was no sign of her.

Arya's mother was close to hysterics, and her father very worried, though he did his best to hide it. It was too early to file a missing persons report, but all of Sansa's clothing was gone, and her car still remained parked in the usual spot.

"Well, one thing's good," Arya had said, trying to lighten the mood. "At least she wasn't kidnapped, or murdered or something, since obviously she planned to go where ever she was going."

After that comment, Ned had suggested that maybe it was a good idea if Arya and Gendry teamed up and drove around, trying to see if they could think of any place Sansa might be and go there.

So far, they had been extremely unsuccessful. Sansa just simply wasn't anywhere.

"Okay," Arya sighed as they sat parked in the malls parking lot, going over their list of places they had thought she might be. "She's not at Margaery's, and she's not with Joffrey, and she not with any of her other friends, and she'd not at the mall, or at school, or in any of her favorite restaurants, or restaurants she hates for that matter, or the park where we used to visit as kids, or any of the local cinemas, or the library. Where on earth could she be?"

"Dorne, maybe?" Gendry offered, but Arya shook her head.

"No," she said. "That's too far, even for Sansa."

"Than where?" Gendry asked. "We've looked everywhere, and your brothers are searching King's Landing like dogs. Where could she have run off to?"

"I don't know," Arya sighed. "There must be something we're missing! Something we've over-looked."

"Okay," Gendry said, looking like he was thinking very hard, "where would you go, if you were going to run away? Where's a place that's safe to crash at?"

"I'd say Margaery's, but we've already ruled that out," Arya said, frowning.

"Well, no, it wouldn't be Margaery's, would it?" Gendry said.

"What, why not? They're best friends," Arya asked, flummoxed.

"Yeah, but Margaery wouldn't just let her disappear for a few days. No, she'd call your parents. It'd have to be some place out of the way, maybe some place other people have gone to, like you and your siblings, that she knows is safe, but where people would be unlikely to look for her," Gendry explained, making a very valid point.

Arya tried to think, of some place, any place, like that. Well, where did she go to when she needed to disappear?

"Gendry..." She said softly, realization dawning on her. "Where does almost every Stark go to crash?"

"What do you mean?" He asked, frowning.

"I mean, where do Jon, and Bran and I go when we want a place to escape, or to just chill at?" She said, prodding him.

"Well my flat of course... Oh my god, you don't think?" Gendry said, shocked, realization dawning on him. "You don't think she went there?"

"It's worth a shot," Arya said, gunning the engine. "I don't see where else she could be."

They sped to Gendry's flat in haste, Arya making several traffic violations in the process, and then parked, both hurrying up the steps to the door of his apartment. When Arya checked for his key, it was gone.

There was a pause, where they both looked at each other, breathless, and then...

"SANSA!" Arya roared, pounding on the door with her fists. "OPEN UP RIGHT THIS MINUTE! WE KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE!"

There was silence.

"Arya are you sure-"

"SANSA! IF YOU DON'T OPEN THE DOOR RIGHT NOW, I'M CALLING MUM AND DAD, AND THEN THEY'LL CALL THE POLICE, AND THEN THEY'LL BREAK DOWN THE DOOR, AND THEN YOU'LL REALLY BE IN TROUBLE!" Arya bellowed, starting to kick the door as well.

"All right, all right," Gendry snapped, dragging her away. "That's my door you're beating up."

Just as Arya was about to shout again, they froze, hearing the lock click, and then the door opened.

Sansa stood there, lip trembling, looking as though she had been crying. Arya had never seen her so disheveled, dressed in her pajamas and looking terribly frightened, humiliated and ashamed.

"Sansa!" Arya breathed in shock. "What happened?"

"I'm so sorry," Sansa whispered. "I didn't mean to cause such an uproar."

"What are you doing in _my_ flat?" Gendry asked.

"I'm sorry," Sansa said again, her eyes red and puffy. "I just didn't know where else to go."

A tear slid down her face.

"All right, it's okay," Arya said quickly, hating to see Sansa cry. "Just calm down."

"Let's go inside and talk," Gendry said, picking up on Arya's tone and ushering both girls inside and closing the door behind him.

"Sansa, what happened?" Arya demanded again. "Did you and Joffrey have a row?"

"No," Sansa sniffed. "I don't know. I just.. I just.."

More tears were sliding down her face.

"We need to call your parents," Gendry said, running a hand through his hair, "and let them know where you are and that you're all right."

"No!" Sansa cried out. "No please! I can't go back! I can't! It's too humiliating! Please!"

"Sssh Sansa," Arya said, catching the alarmed look on Gendry's face, "it's all right. We won't tell them where you are, not yet. We just need to let them know you're okay. Mum's really freaking out, and Dad as well."

Sansa looked over at Gendry, tears running down her face, and he nodded.

"You can stay here for a little while," he relented. "But only for one more night, mind, just to get your head straight. And then you're going home. The last thing I need is for Ned Stark to think I'm holding you captive."

"I'll call Dad for you," Arya offered. "And then you and I are sitting down, and you're telling me what happened."

Sansa nodded stoically, wiping the tears off her face.

"I'm sorry," she blubbered. "I'm being really stupid, I know."

Arya threw a look over at Gendry, and he shook his head as if to say, _now's not the time to be agreeing with her on that point_.

"I'll go call Dad," Arya sighed. "It won't be a minute."

"Err... Would you like something? Like tea?" Gendry asked awkwardly as Arya got her phone out.

"Yes please," Sansa sniffed.

Sighing, Arya dialed her father's number, not surprised in the least when he picked up after the first ring.

"What's happened? Have you found her?" His voice asked anxiously.

"Yes-"

"Gods be good! Where? I'm coming at once!"

"No," Arya said, grimacing. "Dad, we've found her, but she's not ready to come back. She just needs a little longer to clear her head. I'm sorry, but I sort of promised we'd let her stay hidden for just a little longer."

"What happened to her? Was it Joffrey? Because if it was, I swear I'll rip his-"

"I don't think he did anything," Arya said hurriedly, throwing a look over at Sansa and Gendry, who both looked very awkward as Gendry set down a mug of tea on the counter, pushing it towards her. "But I think it's about him."

"All right," Ned sighed. "I just have to know, is she safe?"

"Of course," Arya reassured him. "And Dad, I promise, first thing tomorrow morning we'll be at Winterfell. Promise."

"Just... Just tell her we love her," Ned said haltingly. "And that we're sorry, if it's anything we've done. We just want her home."

"I know," Arya said softly. "And she knows Dad. Don't worry."

"Keep her safe," Ned said, and then the line clicked off.

"Well, he knows we've found you," Arya sighed, putting her phone away. Sansa sighed in relief.

"Thank you," she said quietly. "Both of you."

Gendry ran his hand through his hair again, looking at a loss of what to say, his face slowly turning red. _Poor Gendry, _Arya thought to herself. He really knew very little of Sansa. She could only imagine how uncomfortable he felt.

"Well," he said with a great sense of awkwardness and bravado, "I'm exhausted, not to mention hangover, so if you two don't mind, I'm going to go have a lie in."

"No," Sansa said. "I don't mind. It's your flat, and I'm so sorry for breaking in."

"Yeah, well... Umm... Right then," Gendry stumbled out. "You two have your talk, I'll just be... You know..."

And with that he left, leaving Arya alone with Sansa.

"Umm... Shall we go sit down on the sofa?" Arya asked lamely, and Sansa nodded. When they had sat down, Sansa was silent, staring into her tea.

"Sansa," Arya said, trying to sound gentle, "what's going on?"

"I'm such an idiot," Sansa said softly, and Arya had a sinking feeling that the tears were about to make a reappearance. "What was I thinking?"

"An idiot about what exactly?" Arya pressed.

"I should have never said yes," Sansa whispered into her cup of tea, closing her eyes.

"No you shouldn't have," Arya snapped, and then, realizing that this probably wasn't the best way of going about things, said, "but why Sansa, why? Why didn't you just call it off? Why'd you run away?"

Yes, her eyes were starting to pool with tears again. Drat! Arya was never very good at this sort of thing. Damn Gendry for running away, the traitor.

"I... I thought it was what I wanted," Sansa said haltingly. "I'm so stupid! I thought... It was all I'd ever dreamed of, being treated like a princess, marrying Joffrey, becoming the wife of the most powerful man in the business world, hosting beautiful parties and having beautiful children and having people love me."

Arya did her best not to say something snarky.

"So what made you change your mind?" She asked.

"It wasn't sudden," Sansa sighed. "I'd been feeling... Almost trapped for a while now, but everyone was always going on and on about what a perfect couple we were. Robert Baratheon was so adamant that he wanted our families to be joined together, and I was afraid that if I refused, everything would shatter. I was afraid that Dad might lose his job, or that he'd be angry with me, that they'd all be angry with me."

"Don't be ridiculous," Arya said. "Dad would never be angry with you over that, he hates Joffrey."

"I know," Sansa sighed, closing her eyes. "I know. I just... I felt like I couldn't say no. And I tricked myself into believing that it was what I wanted, and that I was happy about it. But... When Joffrey went off to go to Kings Landing this weekend, I felt so relieved that he was finally gone, that I wouldn't have to see him for a whole weekend... And that's when I panicked."

"Panicked?" Arya repeated.

"I guess I realized that I'd have to spend the rest of my life with him, but how could I when I was relieved that he wasn't there? How could I spend the rest of my life with someone that I never want to see?" Sansa said softly.

"Beats me," Arya said, trying not to sound smug. "That's what I've been saying all along."

"I should have listened to you," Sansa sighed. "I'm so stupid! Why didn't I listen to you?"

Arya chose not to answer, but merely sat there, at a loss for what to say next. Sansa wiped the tears off of her face, sniffing noisily, and then took a gulp of tea.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I'd bloody thrilled you're rid of him," Arya offered after a long period of silence. Sansa laughed.

"What will he say when I tell him?" She asked, her face looking grim.

"He'll probably whine, and yell and piss himself, but he'll get over it eventually. I can't imagine he was very fond of you. The only person he's in love with is himself," Arya sighed.

"Arya!"

"What? It's true!"

"You are, by far, the worst comforter I've ever met," Sansa snapped, but she was laughing.

They lapsed back into silence.

"Do you want to do something?" Arya asked. "Do you want to watch a movie? Gendry's got some really scary ones."

Sansa looked doubtful, but then she shrugged.

"Oh why the hell not?" She sighed. "Pick the scariest one he's got."

Twenty minutes later they sat there, in the growing darkness of the room as night was falling, clutching each other in terror, their eyes glued to the screen.

"Oh don't do it you stupid bitch! Don't go down there! He's obviously waiting there, ready to chainsaw off your head!" Arya cried at the television set, gripping Sansa's hand.

"Oh no!" Sansa groaned. "Please tell me that isn't going to happen again!"

"Probably," Arya said, looking disgusted. "I'm going to go get a soda."

"NO!" Sansa shouted, gripping her arm. "Don't leave me!"

"Fine," Arya grumbled, sitting back down. "Crazy."

"Thank you," Sansa said, turning her attention away from the movie. "Seriously. For everything."

Arya smiled awkwardly.

"What are sisters for?"

Oooooooooooooooo

Gendry sighed. There was just no doing it. He could not sleep with the racket they were making. When they were having their deep little conversation, he had been able to catch a few minutes of sleep, but now, it appeared that they had turned the television set on, and were loud enough to wake the entire neighborhood.

Getting up, he shuffled to the door, opening it quietly, and then padded silently down the hallway, stifling a yawn. Turning the corner, he saw that they were on the couch, watching some horror film, where the girl was walking around in the darkness of some basement, calling out, "who's there?"

"What are you guys watching?"

"ARGGGGH!"

They both screamed so loudly he thought his eardrums might burst, jumping at least three feet in the air, both falling off the couch with a crash.

Gendry couldn't help it, he burst into hysterical laughter.

"GENDRY!" Arya shrieked. "You nearly made me shit my pants!"

"I think I did shit my pants," Sansa said weakly, staggering to her knees, clutching her chest.

"I hope not," Gendry said, coming into the room. "That sofa was expensive."

Both Stark sisters glared at him.

"I'm sorry," he said, biting back more laughter. "I didn't mean to startle you. But I wish I had a camera, you should have seen your faces!"

"That wasn't funny Gendry," Arya snarled, but it wasn't a real snarl.

"Yes, it was," he said chuckling, and then plopped onto the sofa next to her, while Sansa sat on her opposite side.

"Well, you should know better than to sneak up on someone watching a horror film, it's almost cruel," Arya snapped.

"It _is_ cruel," Sansa muttered as they watched the girl getting hacked to death, just as Arya had predicted.

"Sorry," he sighed. "But you two were making such a racket, I'm surprised you didn't wake everyone in the building."

"I knew that was purposeful," Arya said. "I knew you didn't scare us on accident."

"Only slightly."

"Twat."

Gendry chuckled, and though Arya tried to hide it, he could see that she was smiling as well.

They all fell silent, eyes glued to the screen as the mass murderer claimed more and more victims. Every time he did, Arya grabbed Gendry's arm, and then clutched his hand, her eyes never leaving the screen, having no idea that the movie was the last thing he was watching, and when his heart lurched, it wasn't from fear.

After the movie was over, they all agreed that sleep would be impossible, and that it was really very necessary to watch some trash TV to get the images of bloody weapons out of their minds. As the hours wore on, Gendry could see, out of the corner of his eye, Arya drifting, her eyes slowly beginning to flutter closed and her head sinking to his shoulder until, finally, she fell asleep, her breathing coming out in slow, exhausted huffs.

"Thank you for letting me stay here," Sansa said softly, startling him.

"Oh... Umm yeah, of course. You're Arya's sister, after all," Gendry said awkwardly. Sansa managed a small smile.

"She'd like me better if I was a brother, I think," she said softly. Gendry blinked, unsure of what to say.

"She does care about you, even if she was mad at you," he said, hoping that this was the right thing to say.

"I know," Sansa sighed. "She had every right to be angry. I don't know why I ever agreed to marry him in the first place."

"I don't really get it either," Gendry admitted, instantly feeling as though he shouldn't have said that, but Sansa didn't seem to mind.

"Did you know, I thought I was in love with him," she said, snorting. "But I wasn't in love with him. I never looked at him the way she looks at you."

"Umm what?" Gendry sputtered, sure that he had heard wrong.

"She likes you," Sansa said, an almost apologetic smile on her face, nodding to Arya, whole was curled into a ball against him, her fingers still entwined with his, "I can tell."

"Well yeah," Gendry said. "We're best friends."

"No, I mean, she has a crush on you," Sansa said as though she was slightly annoyed that he wasn't catching on.

"What?" Gendry said indignantly. "No she doesn't."

"Yes she does," Sansa said, smiling again. "It's cute, really."

"You're wrong," Gendry said at once. "She just sees me as a brother. No, not even that. She just sees me as a friend."

Sansa sighed.

"Whatever you say," she relented, but Gendry couldn't help but feel as though there was a balloon in his chest, expanding at an alarming rate, threatening to send him bouncing towards the heavens.

"I should probably put her to bed," Gendry sighed, trying not to think too much about what Sansa had said or he'd start dancing or some shit. "You can take my bed as well. I'll sleep on the couch."

"No," Sansa said, surprising him. "I slept here last night, I'll sleep here again. It's your bed, and I've caused you so much trouble already. Besides, it's you she fell asleep on, not me."

"Are you sure? I really don't mind," Gendry said, surprised. She nodded.

"You look tired," she said. "And I don't think I'll be able to sleep for hours. I've got a lot on my mind."

"Are you going to be okay out here?" He pressed. She smiled.

"I'm not going to run off again, if that's what you're asking," she said. "Go to bed."

Gendry sighed and then wrapped his arm around Arya's shoulders, her head still curled into the nap of his neck, and then brought her legs around, cradling her to him as he stood, and then carried her to his room, setting her gently on the bed.

He couldn't help but look at her for just a moment, sleeping there, in his bed, looking so calm and peaceful without her signature scowl on her face.

He pulled the covers around her, gently tucking her in, and then changed into his pajamas, washing his face and brushing his teeth before he crawled into bed as well, her back to him.

He was just about to roll over when she stirred in her sleep, flopping over and then snuggling into his body. He was perfectly still for a moment, and then, making sure not to wake her, reached out his arm and wrapped it around her, his eyes fluttering closed, and then, with a soft sigh, he fell asleep as well.

**I feel like though this is how I planned it to go all along, the stuff you came up for the reason of Sansa's disappearance was way more exciting. I hope you're not disappointed =(**

**I think the next chapter will probably be filler, but I actually can't wait to write the chapter after that ;**


	13. Chapter 13

**This is going to be complete filler, and I really just debated jumping to the next string of events, but I'm afraid it'll just be too sudden and disjointed. So this will be short and sweet, and of debatable quality. But next chapter, shit happens so don't kill me.**

_**Summary: In which Arya wakes up to find herself in an unexpected situation and Gendry can't stop thinking of what Sansa had said.**_

__Arya sighed, feeling herself slowly pulling from sleep. Snuggling deeper under the covers, she burrowed her head into the soft body that was next to her, sleep still clouding her mind. Inhaling, she smelled the scent of skin and mens aftershave and car oil. She wrinkled her nose. It wasn't that it was a bad smell, it just didn't belong to her bed.

And then she blinked her eyes open, squinting in confusion. She was inches from Gendry's peaceful sleeping face, her hands curled against his chest and his arm wrapped around her, holding her close to him. She blinked again, thinking that perhaps she was dreaming, but when she opened her eyes again, he was there.

But how? She tried to think back to the night before, but could only remember watching that terrible movie and then watching equally terrible television. She must have fallen asleep while watching that. But then... Why wasn't it Sansa in Gendry's bed with her? Surely she would protest to having Gendry and Arya share a bed.

_But she doesn't think of Gendry and I like that_, Arya reminded herself. _No one thinks of us as being anything other than friends. No one except me._

She sighed, closing her eyes and trying not to let the creeping feeling of let down expand in her chest like a great big hole. When she opened her eyes again, however, it would seem that that just wasn't going to happen. She just couldn't talk herself into going back to the way it was, to thinking about him like a brother. Maybe she never even thought of him as a brother. Maybe that was just another lie as well.

He looked happy while he slept, but also (and she bit back a smile when she thought this), a bit stupid. His face was coated with dark stubble, as he had gone unshaven for the past two days, and his black hair was messy and wild, sticking out all over the place.

As if sensing her watching him, Gendry sighed, and then his eyes cracked open, blinking at her. He smiled.

"Morning," he said, stretching, his arm effortlessly removing itself from her shoulders, and Arya felt its loss like a sigh. "Sleep well?"

"Yes, about that," she said, trying to sound casually annoyed, "what am I doing here exactly? Where's Sansa?"

"On the couch," Gendry said, but the smile for some reason had slipped from his face. "You're not upset are you? She wanted to sleep there, I offered her the bed."

Oh, so he hadn't wanted to sleep with her then. Arya sighed, fighting off her let down in earnest.

"No," she said softly. "I'm not upset. I'm glad. Sansa usually kicks in the night."

"Well then, she was doing you a favor," Gendry said, sitting up and rubbing the sleep from his eyes, "I sleep like a log."

"Me too," Arya echoed, staring up at his ceiling as he got up and padded to the bathroom, closing her eyes. _Stop it Arya, stop it right now! He just sees you as a friend. Remember, you're just a friend to him. There's nothing wrong with that. Stop being so bloody dismal! _

"You want to use it?" Gendry asked, opening the door after he had finished.

"What?" Arya said, having been lost in her own thoughts.

"The bathroom," he said, pointing to it as though she was slow.

"Oh, yeah I suppose," she sighed, getting up and stretching as well, walking into the bathroom past him and shutting the door.

After she took a piss, she went to wash her hands, looking up in the mirror. God! But she looked awful! Her make-up was all smudged and her eyes all red and sunken. And her hair looked like she had stuck her finger in an electric socket. No wonder Gendry was so eager to get his arm off her.

Arya sighed, really close to kicking herself. What did it matter what she looked like? She was sure that Gendry had seen her in worse conditions before. And besides, what did it matter? He was Gendry. He didn't care.

Running a hand through her hair, she let out the air in her lungs with one great huff and opened the bathroom door, nearly falling backwards when she did.

Really, this time it wasn't her fault. Gendry should have known better than to take his time changing, and at least he had his shorts on this time, though his shirt was noticeably absent.

When she gasped, he turned around, not embarrassed in the least.

"Oh, sorry!" He said, but there was something in his voice that made Arya suspicious. He didn't sound very surprised... But then again, she was probably imagining it. Or then again... Maybe she wasn't. There, she definitely saw a smirk pass across his face! Was he making fun of her?

"It's fine," she shrugged, walking into the room and trying to force her eyes not to linger too long on him. "It's nothing I haven't seen before."

"Oh really?" Gendry asked, suddenly looking angry.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, but when you fell in the shower, I sort of saw everything," Arya said, putting her hands on her hips and smirking at the look on his face. If he had been trying to embarrass her earlier, by having her catch him with his shirt off, he should have known better.

Gendry looked like someone had hit him in the face with a pan.

"E-Everything?" He sputtered.

Arya shrugged.

"Shall I go see if Sansa's up?" She asked innocently. "We really should get going."

And with that she left him, sputtering in his room, and she couldn't help but smile to herself. Just let him try to pull another one on her, she dared him.

Ooooooooo

"If you're going to throw up, don't do it on me," Arya said.

"How can I do it on you? You're in the front seat!" Sansa demanded, but all the same, she did look dangerously grey.

"I don't know, there was that one time at the carnival-"

"I THOUGHT WE AGREED NEVER TO SPEAK OF THAT AGAIN!"

"Fine, I was just saying."

"I hate you."

"Don't be a child."

"You're both acting like children," Gendry said, cutting across the two arguing sisters. "Now shut up, the both of you. Everything will be fine."

It was exhausting, being with both Arya and Sansa at the same time. They squabbled constantly, and though it wasn't malicious, it was tiring having to tell them to shut it all the time. From whether they should drink tea or coffee that morning for breakfast to this, it seemed like they were incapable of talking without arguing, and thus purposefully torturing him.

As they pulled into Winterfell, he saw that all the Starks and Jon were waiting outside, and Sansa gave a sharp intake of breath, clutching at Arya's seat.

"It's going to be fine," Arya said smoothly, and though Gendry had just been mentally complaining about how childish she acted with her sister, she also was being very grown-up too, comforting Sansa and calming her down. "At least the Baratheons aren't here."

"Small miracles," Sansa muttered as Arya pulled the car into park. At once, Catelyn rushed forward, and Sansa quickly opened her door, looking nervous as she got out.

"Sansa!" Catelyn cried, throwing her arms around her daughter and clutching her close. "Oh thank god! Thank god you're all right!"

"I'm sorry Mum," Sansa said, starting to cry again. "I never meant to scare you, or freak you out, or any of that. I'm so, so sorry!"

"It's all right," Catelyn said as Ned and the others came forward as well. "We're just so glad you're safe."

"Dad," Sansa said awkwardly as Ned put a hand on Catelyn's shoulder, his expression stoney.

There was a moment where Gendry was afraid that Ned might yell at her, but to his surprise, he pulled her into his arms and hugged her.

"I can't marry him, Dad," she said, "I'm sorry but I can't!"

"I know," Ned said gruffly, "Ssh I know."

"Sansa's so lucky," Arya said under her breath to Gendry as they watched the scene unfolding before them, "if I ever pulled something like that, I'd never hear the end of it. Dad would yell so loud, people on the sun could hear him."

"Oh I don't know," Gendry said, looking over at her, "I think that she'll get a proper talking too later. But she is older than you, you know. They can't really ground her when she's just going to be leaving for university, can they?"

"Yes, thank you for reminding me," Arya snapped, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Oh stop it, you're happy she's all right. And you're happy she's dumping Joffrey. And you're happy she ran away and embarrassed him," Gendry said, shoving her playfully. Arya looked like she was trying very hard not to smile.

"Fine," she said. "You win."

"And don't think for a moment just because everyone else has forgotten about that little stunt you pulled this weekend, doesn't mean I haven't," Gendry said, suddenly serious. Arya, it seemed, was suddenly very intrigued by her shoes.

"Yippee," she said drily.

"Arya, you can't have thought I'd let that just slid by," Gendry said indignantly while Sansa, laughed (apparently Jon had said something very insulting about Joffrey). "What's going on, hmm? Why'd you feel the need to do something so reckless-"

"Look, can't we just forget it?" She snapped moodily. "As if I wasn't embarrassed about it enough already."

"No," Gendry said, frowning. And then he thought about what Sansa had said, about Arya having a crush on him, and instantly brushed it off. "Were you... Were you worried about me? Is that why you did it?"

Her face, to his surprise, turned bright red.

"No!" She said far too quickly. "Just drop it, okay? Or I won't take you to work like I said I would."

And with that, knowing that Arya was as good as her word, Gendry snapped his mouth shut on the subject. But he wasn't about to let it go. There was something Arya wasn't telling him, and he might pretend that he wasn't interested, but he was going to find out what it was, even if she killed him.

As it was, Gendry found himself (along with everyone else) preoccupied with Sansa's calling off of her wedding, waiting with baited breath to see how Joffrey and his family would react. Robb, Jon, Bran and Arya all swore that they'd fight to the death for Sansa if it came to it, but she had pointedly replied that she knew how to take care of herself, thank them very much.

"Still," Arya said under her breath to Gendry, "I think I'll start preparing Winterfell for a possible Lannister siege just in case."

Much to everyone's surprise, Robert Baratheon took Sansa's decision rather well. At least, he didn't throw a huge fit, fire Ned, and disgrace the Stark family forever. He was disappointed, and he wasn't happy, but he seemed to accept it.

His wife, Cersei, was far more annoyed. She had never liked the Starks, and for a few days, it looked like she was trying her very best to get Ned fired or at least shamed for the way his daughter had treated her son. But she was the only one.

Arya had been right about Joffrey. He had whined, he had ranted, maybe even pissed himself a little, and then he had gotten over it. Or so they heard. No one really cared how he felt about it. No one really cared about him period, for that matter. A life without Joffrey was a life lived with much more happiness and a lot less scowling.

The improvement in Sansa was astonishing. Gendry had never seen her look so bright and cheery, and saucy too. The way she sometimes talked about her ex-boyfriend put Arya to shame. She had stopped referring to him by his name and started calling him 'that little whining prick.'

"I've trained her so well," Arya sighed with teary eyes.

Arya.

Gendry, no matter how hard he tried, couldn't help but keep thinking about what Sansa had said. Every time he talked to Arya, it would pop up in his head, the fatal words, "she has a crush on you," haunting him and refusing to go away. He couldn't help but worry that it was affecting the way he was acting around Arya, and tried desperately to throw off the stupid hope that kept bubbling in the pit of his stomach.

He kept trying to test the theory too, to see if she'd give something away, but that had failed miserably. The little stunt he had pulled with her catching him without his shirt off, just to see how she'd react, had backfired right in his face. He sincerely hoped she was bluffing. Had she really seen... Everything?

It was _ridiculous_. What was he? In second grade? This was Arya, his best friend. What was he doing, going around like an idiot, wondering if she liked him or not? He needed to get a grip on himself, and Hot Pie wasn't really helping.

"Mental," he said when Gendry had told him what had happened. "She's mental. One second she was perfectly normal, and the next she was running out to crash the party."

"So what made her do it?" Gendry asked as he worked on a cars engine, the sound of 80's music still blasting through the Forge. _Whoever breaks Yoren's stereo should get an award_, he thought to himself.

"I dunno," Hot Pie shrugged, putting his hands up. "She's your best friend."

"Yeah but you were there," Gendry snapped. "You must have said something to set her off."

"Like what?"

"How should I fucking know? I wasn't there, was I?" Gendry growled, annoyed. Hot Pie thought for a moment.

"I have no idea," he said. "We were just talking about how the bachelor party was going to suck, and she was whining, of course, and then... Oh yeah! I made some crack at how you'd probably have a drunk hook-up with a prostitute and then she was off and running. Absolutely crazy."

Gendry tried not look as elated as he felt. Did... Did Arya feel threatened by the idea of him hooking up with someone else? Was she jealous? He tried not to dwell on it, not with Hot Pie around, but he couldn't help it, he was grinning.

**Actually that wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. Next chapter up tomorrow as per usual. Random note: I think I'm more than half way through with this fic! Whoa! It went by way faster than I expected**


	14. Chapter 14

**I've been looking forward to this chapter ever since I started writing this fic. Mwahahahahaha.**

_**Summary: In which Gendry decides to make a move and he and Arya beat the shit out of Joffrey. **_

__"Hello?"

"It's me."

"Yes I know it's you, you idiot, I have caller ID," Arya said, rolling her eyes even though Gendry couldn't see her. Rolling over on her bed, she reached for her computer so she could turn off the music she was blasting.

"Oh. Right."

"What's up?" She asked, pulling herself up off her stomach and sitting up. She had spent the whole day in bed, in only pajamas, playing computer games, and had throughly enjoyed it.

"I was wondering if you... If you were, err, free to go to lunch with me in like ten minutes," Gendry said, and for some reason, he almost sounded nervous.

Her heart jumped. It almost... It almost sounded like he was asking her out on a date. Was he asking her out on a date?

"Oh yeah sure," she said casually, scrambling off her bed in a mad panic and diving at her pile of cloths on the floor, searching madly for something decent to throw on.

"Will you be ready to go then?" Gendry asked as she hit the speaker button so that she could force her smelly t-shirt off her body and replace it with something else. "I know it's sort of last minute..."

"Oh yeah sure," Arya all but shouted. "No problem!"

Trying not to let out a frustrated scream, as she couldn't find a suitable shirt, Arya rushed towards her pants drawer, hoping for better luck there. As she did, she caught a look at herself in the mirror. Oh no, that set of bra and underwear would not do at all. What was she, five? She couldn't very well wear underwear with rainbows in it.

"Umm Arya? Are you still there?"

"YES!" Arya roared, shimmying out of her underwear and digging around her drawer for that lacy black thing that Margaery had bought her for her last birthday as a joke. Coming up victorious, she quickly pulled those on, changing her bra to match, and then looking around the room, trying to think of what to wear.

"Are you okay? We don't have to-"

"NO NO! I'M FINE!" Arya shouted. "Just... Err... Sansa's calling me! Something about a blender! I've got to go! See you soon!"

And with that she slammed her finger on the receiver before Gendry could question what she had said.

In desperation she burst out of her room and sprinted down the hall, in just her underclothes (Sansa was the only one home) wrenching open Sansa's door and scaring her sister half to death.

"ARYA!" Sansa, who had been doing her nails, cried. "What are you doing?"

Arya didn't have time to answer, instead she flew to Sansa's closet and rifling through her cloths before she found what she was looking for: a sleeveless electric blue dress.

"Hey that's mine!" Sansa protested as Arya snatched it, already turning to leave her room, throwing the hanger over her shoulder.

"Yeah but you never wear it," Arya said dismissively, attempting to pull it over her head.

"What are you wearing?" Sansa demanded, following Arya as she ran back to her room. "Is that lace I just saw?"

"No," Arya lied quickly,

"Yes it was! Arya, what's going on?" Sansa demanded as Arya adjusted the dress and then grabbed her hair brush, hurriedly yanking it through her hair before digging around her jewelry and coming up with a pair of silver earrings in the shape of cats.

"Nothing," Arya said, giving Sansa a look like she was going mad. "I just forgot that I was meeting someone, that's all."

"A boy?" Sansa asked, eyebrows raised.

"Don't be stupid," Arya snapped, grabbing a jean jacket. "I'm just late, that's all."

"Uh huh," Sansa said, not fooled in the least. "Do you want me to do your make-up?"

"Don't have time," Arya said, rushing to her bathroom and gurgling a bit of mouthwash before running back to look for shoes.

"You better be wearing tights under that," Sansa said, sounding eerily like their mother.

"All right," Arya relented, grabbing her see-through black tights and yanking them up her legs. She had just stuffed her feet in her red high tops before her phone rang, signaling that Gendry was there.

"Gotta go," she shouted, snatching her phone before Sansa could see who it was and running out of her room and down the hallway.

"Is that Gendry outside?" Sansa asked, peering out the window.

"NO!" Arya shouted, scampering down the stairs and then wrenching the door open, slamming it behind her and sprinting out to where Gendry was waiting on his motorcycle, slowing down to a walk when she got nearer to him, trying to look casual.

"Hi," she said.

"Hey," he said, handing her his spare helmet. "Ready?"

"Yeah of course," Arya said, trying not to sound out of breath, putting on her helmet.

"Hop on," he said, patting the seat behind him. Heart beating wildly in her chest, Arya complied, getting on and then wrapping her arms around him tightly.

"Ready?"

"Yup."

"All right," Gendry said, and then they were off, speeding down the lane and away from Winterfell.

Arya loved riding on Gendry's motorcycle, whizzing past the world, life zipping by them as they went. It was an exhilarating, freeing feeling. Almost like they were flying.

To her surprise, he took her, not someplace North as she had expected, but downtown to King's Landing. Friends or not friends, taking someone all the way to King's Landing was not something someone would do for just a casual lunch.

He found parking a few blocks from whatever restaurant he was taking her to, and so they'd have to walk a little ways. Arya didn't mind. She was so jittery that a walk would probably calm the butterflies in her stomach.

"Here, I know a short cut," Gendry said, pointing to an alleyway that lead to the street over. "This should get us there faster."

"Okay," Arya shrugged and they turned, walking down it. For a split second, Arya had the strongest desire to reach out and take his hand. _Should she?_ She wondered as she eyed his hand with wary. But just as she was thinking that taking his hand would be a very bad idea if this wasn't a date, something broke her thought process.

"Well, well, well, look who it is. The bastard and the ugly little virgin, you two off on a date?"

Arya and Gendry both whipped around to see Joffrey, that stupid little shit smirk on his face, flanked by two impressive looking cronies.

"Joffrey, I didn't know you had friends," Arya said acidly. "But then again you're, probably paying them to hang around you. It must be costly. I can't imagine there'd be enough money in the world."

Joffrey laughed.

"So," he said, "I'm curious, how's the bitch? Crying her eyes out over me?"

"Oh hardly," Arya spat. "She's the one who dumped you, you little twat. You're probably the one who's crying."

"Oh no," Joffrey smirked. "I'm glad. Go tell the nun that. You're sister always was a little bitch, teasing but never letting me in. Makes a man wonder when a girl doesn't put out. I wouldn't be surprised if she had a nasty little cunt."

"That's it!" Arya roared, leaping forward to claw his eyes out. "I'm going to fuck you up, you little shit!"

"WHOA!" Gendry yelled, grabbing her and holding her back. "Arya, stop! There's no need for that."

"Did you not hear what he just said?" Arya cried, glaring at Joffrey.

"Yes," Gendry said, letting her go and putting his hand up, making sure she wouldn't fly at Joffrey again. "But let's just calm down and act like adults."

"Yeah," Joffrey crowed. "Listen to the bastard. For once, he's actually making sense. I'm surprised at you, bastard, I thought you were more like my father: all cock and no brain."

"Yeah, okay," Gendry said, and then, without any warning, he turned around and punched Joffrey in the face.

"What was that about handling this like adults?" Arya asked as Joffrey screamed in pain, blood spurting out of his nose.

"I changed my mind," Gendry said, and then, as Joffrey's cronies rushed forward, he threw a look over at Arya, grinned, and said, "you take shit face and I'll handle them."

"My pleasure," Arya said, turning to Joffrey, who was clutching his nose and squealing like the pussy he was. "I've been waiting for this far too long."

Before he could defend himself, she rushed forward and rammed her fist into his stomach, causing him to double over, and then smashed her knee into his balls. Joffrey screamed.

"Oh shut up," Arya said, slapping him across the face for good measure as he fell to the ground, wheezing in pain. "As if you had anything down there I could damage."

And then, just for the fun of it, she gave him a few good kicks. He really did make the funniest sounds when she did that.

"I'm telling my mother!" he cried, clutching his nose and balls.

"You terrify me," Arya said, but before she could kick him again, she heard a yell and saw that one of Joffrey's cronies was punching Gendry in the face faster than he could recover to hit him back.

"RAWWWWWWWWWWW!" Arya roared, taring away from Joffrey's pathetic form and leaping on the man attacking Gendry, grabbing hold of his neck and kicking him with all her might, screaming all the time.

The man flailed, trying to throw her off him, but she was latched on like a leech, her legs beating into his sides as he stumbled around.

"Get off you crazy bitch!"

"Mate, you really shouldn't talk to her like that," Gendry said, wiping blood off his face before he reached back and punched the man in the face, the blow leaving him staggering. Arya hopped off him, and then, stepping back, let Gendry hit him again in the jaw.

As if knowing the fight was unwise, like the other guy that had been with them, the man grabbed Joffrey, who was still crying worthlessly on the ground, and dragged him from the alleyway, both of them bleeding profusely.

There was a moment of silence.

And then Arya burst out laughing.

"THAT WAS BEAUTIFUL!" She howled. "Did you see them run?"

But when she turned back to Gendry, he wasn't laughing. Instead, there was a look on his face, a look she had never seen before, but it left her struck dumb.

Before she could even question what was going on, Gendry was suddenly reaching out and pulling her to him, and then, without any warning or further ado, he crashed his lips to hers and kissed her.

Oooooooooo

He probably shouldn't have it, but he was bloody glad he did. Another moment's hesitation and he would have chickened out and taken her home to make sure she was okay. He would have reasoned with himself, told himself that grabbing Arya Stark and kissing her after they had beaten the shit out of Joffrey was a very bad idea.

As it was, he had not. There had just been such a boiling in his blood that always happened after a good fight, something that called for more. A rush of exhilaration. A crashing of precaution. There was just something after a good fight that set his blood to fire.

Against his lips, Arya froze, and for one, freezing second, he was sure she was going to push him off her. And then she wrapped her arms around his neck and yanked him closer, battling his lips with just as much desperation as he was.

As he snaked his tongue into her mouth, gasping for breath, he felt the fire at the pit of his stomach spreading to other areas. Maybe he should stop this right now before it got out of hand. Maybe Arya would think twice-

"I'm not hungry," she said through their frantic kisses. "You should take me back to your flat."

He didn't need her to ask him again. It wasn't a particularly long ride back, but it felt like an age had passed when they were finally pulling up to his flat, practically throwing the motorcycle down in their haste to get inside.

If he had thought the long ride had given Arya time to reconsider, it hadn't. As soon as they had their helmets off, she was pulling him to her, not even caring that they were in the middle of the street, in a public place.

They stumbled into his apartment, slamming the door behind them, and then Gendry took her in his arms, lifting her up so that she was trailing backwards on her tip toes, running her hands through his hair and moaning when he sucked on her lower lip.

She pushed his jackets from him, running her arms around his shoulders and neck as he fumbled with her jacket in turn, accidentally running her into the wall when he did.

"Sorry," he tried to say, but she was too busy kissing him to let him even utter a word. As it was, he felt her fingers brushing just below his belt buckle, sending a rush to the area that was already causing him a good deal of discomfort, and pushing his shirt up, letting him finish by pulling it over his head.

Her hands slid over his bare skin, leaving what felt like little trails of fire as he worked his tongue in her mouth, his hands running up from her hips to the undersides of her arms, his thumbs trailing on the sides of her breasts.

To his surprise (he really had never expected her to be this bold), she reached down and pulled up her dress, reaching her arms around and yanking it off, discarding it on the floor.

Gendry gulped. There was no denying it, he was definitely hard. But bloody hell, he had no idea she even owned stuff like that! All lacy and black and...

"Seven hells," he croaked out horsely as she came forward, unbuckling his belt and then pulling it off him, going up on her tip toes to kiss him again as she unbuttoned his pants, pushing them to the ground.

Lifting her up, lips still locked, Gendry carried her to his room, one eye peeped open for navigating, while she planted kisses on his mouth, jaw and neck, arms wrapped around his head as well as her legs around his torso.

They tumbled onto the bed, gasping for breath, kissing feverishly, Arya's hands running from his head to his chest. All this kissing was making him feel drunk, his head spinning faster than a top, his vision nearly going blurry.

Breaking their embrace, Gendry leaned back and trailed his fingers to where her tights began, and then, gently gathering the thin fabric in his fingers, started to pull it back, down her legs and towards her ankles, all the while his eyes never leaving hers.

As they sat there, catching their breath, Gendry saw something cross over Arya's face, her body tensing slightly as his fingers brushed her legs. And then that's when it all came crashing down around him.

_She was a virgin._ What was he doing? What was he doing? He couldn't be doing this! It was all far too sudden! They weren't even in a proper relationship! Seven hells, he couldn't just go from kissing her to shagging her. What on earth was he thinking?

"Arya," he said quietly, setting her tights aside. "I think we should stop."

"What?" She said, looking panicked.

"I think we should stop," he said gently.

"What? Why?" She said, clutching at him, and then, catching herself, laid her hands tentatively on his broad shoulders.

"Because, Arya, I can't do this," he said. "You're still a virgin-"

"What and you're not?" She scoffed. Gendry felt his face heat.

"Well... No..." he admitted. Her eyes widened and she pushed him off her, sitting up almost violently.

"Who? Who did you have sex with?" She demanded.

"Arya-"

"I don't believe you," she said at once. "You've never even had a girlfriend. I'd think I'd know about it if you did."

"Oh honestly Arya, it was years ago," Gendry said, sitting up as well. "It was just some girl I met at a party, a few hook-ups and that was- Arya!"

She had leapt from the bed, snatching up her tights, and stormed out of the room.

"ARYA!" He shouted, leaping from the bed, but when he got back out into the main room, she had already forced on her dress, tights still in hand. He grabbed her arm. "Arya wait-No! You're taking this the wrong way!"

"Let go off me!" She shouted, snatching up her coat.

"Arya please don't go, let's talk about this!"

"Leave me alone!" She snapped, wrenching open his door and storming out, leaving him to scramble behind her.

"Arya no! Arya wait! Please! I didn't mean-!" He cried out, chasing after her in nothing but his boxers. "At least let me drive you home!"

"I'll take the bus," she snarled, taking off down the lane faster than he could catch her.

"Arya!" He roared after her. "ARYA!"

But it was no use. Half way down the lane she started running, and then, turning the corner, she was gone.

**And they were so close too. Sigh. **

**Just to clarify: I actually don't hate 80's music, but I thought it'd just sort of add to the comedic tone of the story to have Gendry constantly like "Yoren, seriously, can we just try something else like silence?**


	15. Chapter 15

_**Summary: In which Arya won't pick up her phone and Gendry encounters a horde of angry Stark brothers**_

__Arya arrived home just before dinner, specks on blood still on her hands and face (she hoped that none had gotten on Sansa's dress). Tights still in hand, she trudged up to Winterfell, opening the door and slinking in, trying to be as quiet as possible.

It wasn't enough. It appeared that Sansa was waiting for her.

"Where have you been?"' She hissed, ambushing Arya out of no where. "Tonights the family dinner! You know, the family baby shower for Jeyne?"

Arya, blinked, having completely forgotten.

"I got caught up," she snapped, feeling bitter and resentful, her absolute failure with Gendry weighing her down like an anchor.

"Is that blood on your face?" Sansa gasped in horror.

"Just... Tell Jon and the others I'll be down in a minute," Arya said, mounting the stairs. "I've got to go wash up."

"You tell them!" Sansa snapped, annoyed. "They're all in the game room."

And with that she stomped off, no doubt hurt that Arya was being so secretive. Whatever, Sansa was a big girl, she could handle herself.

Arya's room was dark when she entered, dropping her tights almost immediately and standing there, staring, not sure of what to do next, but feeling her emotions of hurt and humiliation snarling together in her stomach, reaching up and tugging at her throat, and though she tried to fight it with all her might, disappointment overtook her in waves.

Tears, stupid tears, leaked out of her eyes, splashing onto her cheeks when she squeezed her eyes shut, willing them to go away. Stupid! She should have expected this. She should have known, she should have known! What was she thinking, that Gendry would go from seeing her as a little sister one second, to someone sexually attractive in another? _She should have known_.

An unexpected rage burst within her as she stood there, crying like a stupid little girl. Vigorously wiping the tears from her face, she cursed herself for being so stupid. All at once she was furious at Gendry. For rejecting her, for making her feel like a fool, for making her feel like a stupid, vulnerable girl. For making her cry.

Fury blinding her, she turned on her heel and wrenched open the door, storming down the stairs, and then to the game room, throwing open the door with purpose.

"Arya!" Jon said at once. "We were getting worried about you- What's wrong? Why are you crying?"

"I'm not crying," Arya said at once. "I'm fine."

"You don't look fine," Bran pointed out accurately.

"Gendry tried to have sex with me," she said in a great, vindictive rush. "I just thought I should let you know."

And with that she left them, all staring after her, their mouths gaping open in shock.

Ooooooooooooo

"Shit!" Gendry swore under his breath. "Shit! Shit! Shit!"

"Are you done yet over there?" Yoren shouted from across the Forge. "All this mentioning of shit is making me have to use the loo!"

"Oh shut up!" Gendry shouted back, feeling foul. "How you can ever hear a word I say over this racket is a miracle!"

"Did you just tell me to shut up?" Yoren roared, but then, something seemed to divert his attention. "Oi you! You've got company!"

Gendry turned, and he was sure he had just stepped into one of his nightmares. Coming towards the Forge were all the Stark brothers, all armed with bats and looking angry. _OH SHIT!_ They had found out! They knew about what had happened with Arya! Oh shit, oh shit, OH SHIT!

"I'd be running if I were you," Yoren shouted, looking amused. Gendry had never felt less amused in his life.

"Gendry! Come out here! We want to have a word with you!" Jon called from the parking lot.

Gendry gulped. _This is it_, he thought, _this is where I die_. Feeling as though he might throw up, Gendry walked out of the Forge and into the parking lot, trying to look anything but like he was going to shit his pants.

"I can explain," he said quickly. "It's not what you think."

"Jesus," Robb said, eyes widening, "so it is true."

"We didn't think it was," Bran said, looking equally surprised. "We thought she was bluffing."

"You tried to have sex with Arya?" Jon demanded, looking truly murderous. "You touched our sister?"

He raised the bat.

"Hey now, I thought we said we weren't actually going to use these!" Bran said hurriedly.

"Yeah, that was before when we thought Arya was making stuff up! Now he's saying it really happened!" Jon said loudly, glaring at Gendry.

"Can I explain?" Gendry demanded. "I'd like to have my say before you beat me to death."

"She's our sister!" Jon bellowed. "How could you? I thought you were her friend!"

"Seriously though," Robb said, pushing Jon back. "What were you thinking? She's only seventeen."

"I know!" Gendry snapped. "I know! That's why I stopped it, and let me inform you, before you beat me, that it was very much consensual!"

"All right," Bran said, shooting Jon a purposeful look. "You can explain."

Gendry sighed.

"We got a bit carried away," he admitted. "We... We sort of kissed... A lot. And... And we almost, you know... I don't have to explain it, obviously. But then I remembered that she was a... You know, a virgin, and I knew it just couldn't go on, and so I stopped it because I couldn't do that to her. I just couldn't."

Robb and Bran shared looks, as though they were growing less inclined to beating him bloody.

"And... Arya wasn't really too happy that I stopped it," Gendry sighed. "She took it badly, and... Well... Here you are."

There was a deafening silence. Robb and Bran looked at each other, both looking uncertain, but Jon remained firm, her hand still clenched around the bat.

"We can't do this, Jon," Robb said with a long sigh. "If I know Arya, and I think I do, I'm guessing she only told us to get revenge. It sounds like something she would do, and Gendry forcing himself on her sounds like something he wouldn't do."

"She never said he was forcing himself on her anyway," Bran said quickly.

"Yeah, she was pretty clear when we made her explain that you didn't hurt her," Robb said, looking back at Gendry. Jon looked annoyed.

"She's my little sister," he growled at Gendry, who felt his insides twist.

"I know," he said. "I know. I'm really sorry. I've tried calling her a million times, but she won't pick up. I don't want everything to be mucked up, I'd feel really sick if it was."

Robb gave Gendry a long, thoughtful look.

"I don't want everything to be mucked up either," he said. "You've been a good friend to Arya, and I believe you when you say you're sorry."

"We can't just let him get away with it!" Jon snapped, waving his bat at Gendry.

"He didn't get away with it," Bran pointed out. "Look, he got caught, we scared the shit out of him-"

"You did not scare the shit-"

"Mate you should have seen your face," Robb cut across Gendry, looking like he was trying not to laugh.

"- and now he's learned his lesson. It won't happen again, right Gendry?" Bran finished, shooting both Robb and Gendry annoyed looks at being interrupted.

Gendry felt his heart sink.

"You can't be seriously considering Arya," Jon spat as if reading his mind. "She's five years your junior!"

"No," Gendry snapped angrily. "Fine. It won't happen again, you have my word."

"That works for me," Robb said, shrugging. Bran agreed.

That left Jon. Though he was glaring at Gendry with a mixture of betrayal and brotherly protectiveness on his face.

"Fine," he snarled. "Just see that you keep your hands to yourself from now on."

Gendry bit back his angry words, knowing that, though his temper was flared, it would eventually die down, and he did not want to say anything to Jon now that he would regret later. Besides, he could agree with them now, but once he talked to Arya, it would be another story.

"Can you help me talk to her?" he asked, more to Robb and Bran than Jon, who he knew was still feeling extremely protective of his little sister. They nodded.

"We can take you back to Winterfell right now," Bran offered. "She won't be expecting us back, and especially not with you. It'd be the perfect opportunity to ambush her."

Gendry ran a hand through the back of his hair.

"I've got work..." He said uncertainly, looking back towards the Forge where Yoren was giving him angry looks that clearly said, _get your sorry ass back to work_.

"Take an early lunch break," Bran shrugged.

Sure that this opportunity was very unlikely to present itself in the future, Gendry let out a reluctant sigh and turned back to the Forge.

"YOREN!" He shouted. "I'm taking an early lunch break!"

"Oh no you don't! You get your sorry ass right back here now!"

Gendry turned back to the Stark brothers, who were raising their eyebrows.

"Run," he said, and as if on cue, Yoren's voice thundered behind him, shouting, "GET BACK HERE YOU SORRY SONS OF WHORES!"

It was too late, they were already half way to the car.

**I don't like writing Arya to be so... Well immature, but I just couldn't resist the idea of all her brothers coming and threatening to take Gendry on. The image of them all carrying bats made me smil**


	16. Chapter 16

_**Summary: In which Sansa reveals a bit of her own revenge and Arya finds herself being kidnapped by Robb**_

__"I really hope my dress is the way it was before you stole it," Sansa said, leaning against the frame of Arya's door as Arya determinedly ignored her, pretending to be very immersed in the game she was playing.

"You're going to have to talk to me eventually, you know," Sansa said, coming in without permission and sitting down next to Arya on the bed.

"No I'm not," Arya snapped, shooting down a horde of zombies. It wasn't nearly as satisfying as sticking someone in fencing, but it would have to do for now.

"See? You just talked to me. I told you so," Sansa said.

"Oh fuck off," Arya groaned, annoyed, pushing her dirty hair out of her eyes.

"Not until you explain," Sansa said sharply. "You do know that Robb, Bran and Jon left for the Forge armed with bats, right?"

"Good," Arya snarled.

"Did Gendry really try to have sex with you?" Sansa asked bluntly and Arya sighed. It was clear her sister would not be leaving her alone.

"No," she sighed. "I mean yes. I don't know. I suppose it was sort of the other way around."

"You tried to have sex with him?" Sansa said, looking almost amused.

"Can you stop saying the word 'sex' so much? You sound like a bad soap opera," Arya said, setting her closed computer down and getting up, feeling antsy.

"Fine," Sansa said, shrugging. "Just tell me what happened."

Arya sighed.

"Can we please not talk about it?" She groaned.

"No."

"ARGH! FINE!" Arya snapped, sitting down in her window seat with a huff and crossing her arms. "You know the other day, when I stole your dress and you asked me if I was going to meet a boy? And I said no?"

"It was Gendry," Sansa finished for her. "I knew it."

"Yeah it was him," Arya said grumpily. "I'm so stupid. For some reason, I thought he was asking me on a date."

Sansa didn't say anything, just waited for her to continue.

"So... We went to King's Landing, and were on our way to the restaurant... And ran into your lovely ex," Arya said, playing with her pajama shorts.

"Joffrey? Why am I not surprised," Sansa said, wrinkling her nose at the thought of him. "I assume he was less than friendly."

"You should have heard what he said about you!" Arya cried, her rage renewed. "That little prick! I should have stuffed him in a trash can!"

"Really?" Sansa said, not looking upset but amused. "What'd he say."

"Oh just something disgusting about why you didn't put out," Arya said, not wanting to repeat it.

"I thought it'd be something like that," Sansa sighed, lying back on the bed.

"Aren't you angry?" Arya asked, perplexed.

"Oh no," Sansa said cheerfully. "I expected he'd be a little upset."

"Upset?" Arya said, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh he's just angry because I told everyone the reason I never put out was that one time we almost did it, but then I backed out," Sansa said, sitting up, a wicked grin on her face.

"Why?" Arya pressed.

"Well, at the time I told him I wasn't ready," Sansa said, her eyes glinting with the taste of revenge, "but in reality it was because I just couldn't believe how small his prick was."

Arya blinked, and then burst out in laughter.

"So naturally, I decided to spread the knowledge around. I just can't imagine him having an easy time finding a girlfriend after that one," Sansa said, sounding pleased with herself. "So it's no wonder he was being whiny."

"Yeah, well, had I known that, I wouldn't have beaten the shit out of him," Arya said, recovering from her laughter.

"You wouldn't have?" Sansa asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Well... No that's a lie," Arya said, and both sisters laughed.

"So you and Gendry beat him up?" Sansa asked, grinning.

"You should have seen it, he cried for his mother," Arya sighed, smiling just to think about it.

"Not that I don't think your beating of Joffrey is brilliant or anything, but exactly how does this tie into you and Gendry almost... You know?" Sansa said, suddenly serious.

"Oh," Arya said, her mood dropping considerably. "Ummm... Well then, you know, Joffrey ran off, the little coward, and... And... Gendry kissed me."

"_Gendry_ kissed _you_?" Sansa sputtered, thoroughly shocked.

"Yeah," Arya said, her sisters shock not exactly helping her mood. "And we sort of... Made out, among other things..."

"What other things?" Sansa all but shouted.

"I mean, we went back to his flat and... And sort of, you know, stripped down to our underwear... And... Ummm," Arya said, feeling more and more uncomfortable with every word.

"And?" Sansa demanded. "And?"

"And then he stopped it," Arya said depressively. "He said he couldn't do it."

"Well thank god!" Sansa said indignantly. "Imagine if you two had gone all the way!"

Arya had. Many, many times.

"Why is it so bad?" Arya snarled. "Am I that repulsive?"

"No," Sansa said, frowning. "But it's hardly appropriate."

"You're one to talk. Joffrey makes Gendry look like Prince charming," Arya shot right back.

Sansa opened her mouth to retort, but was cut off by the sudden appearance of Robb, who came into the room in a rush.

"Robb-"

"Sorry, love to chat but..." he said, walking briskly over to Arya and then, before she could even react, he grabbed her around the middle and hoisted her over his shoulder.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Arya cried out as he turned around.

"Gendry's in the garden, and you're talking to him," Robb said shortly. "Hi Sansa."

Sansa's amused face swung out of Arya's vision as Robb carried her out of her room like a sack of potatoes.

"WHAT? NO! ROBB! PUT ME DOWN!" Arya shrieked, beating on his back and kicking. "PUT ME DOWN THIS INSTANT!"

"Sorry," Robb said apologetically. "No can do. I want you and Gendry to work this out, and if I put you down, you'll just run."

"YOU STAY OUT OF IT!" Arya screeched. "PUT ME DOWN ROBB! PUT ME DOWN!"

"How can I stay out of it when you dragged me into it?" Robb asked, opening the door and carrying her out into the backyard, starting to cross the lawn. "Now stop throwing a tantrum."

"NO!" Arya shouted. "This is ridiculous! Robb! PUT. ME. DOWN!"

"Fine," Robb said, and all of a sudden she was tumbling to the ground, sitting down hard with a great big _thump!_

"She's all yours," Robb said, giving Arya an apprehensive look. Arya whipped around to see Gendry standing behind her in the garden, nodding to Robb.

At once she leapt to her feet, ready to make a quick getaway, but Gendry was ready. Before she could move another inch his fingers were wrapping themselves around her arm, holding her firmly in place.

"LET GO OF ME!" She yelled, trying to wrench from his grasp.

"You two work it out," Robb said, "and if you try to run away, Arya, I'll just catch you again, so just try to act like an adult and stay put."

Arya scowled.

"How can I act like an adult when everyone is constantly telling me that I'm a child?" She muttered darkly under her breath.

"Arya, will you come into the garden?" Gendry asked, gently tugging her arm. She wrenched from his grip and then stomped in the garden, leaving him to follow her.

"Well?" she demanded, turned around and crossing her arms, determined to look as fierce as possible. Maybe if she looked especially dangerous, his words of rejection wouldn't hurt as much.

"I'm sorry about getting Robb and Jon and Bran involved," Gendry said, "but I guess that's your doing."

"Are you going to tell me why you're here or not?" Arya snapped.

"What? Because you have so much other stuff to do?" Gendry shot back, equally as nasty. "Let me guess, all you've been doing for the past two days is playing games on your computer?"

"You know what? Fuck you," Arya all but shouted. "If you wanted to just come here and insult me than you're wasting your breath!"

"No," Gendry said, as if checking himself, "I'm sorry. I came here to talk to you, but you just make me so angry sometimes I could just..."

He let out a long sigh of air.

"We need to talk about what happened, Arya," he said eyeing her warily.

"And what if I don't want to?" she said, trying not to think about how childish she sounded.

"Too bad," Gendry said heartlessly. "Arya, we've been best friends for nearly eight years now, I don't want this to muck things up."

There it was. The friend zone. Arya felt her angry, defiant facade cracking and she looked down at her feet, unable to answer him.

"You left so quickly yesterday, you didn't give me a chance to explain myself," he began to explain, but Arya wanted none of it.

"Please," she said. "Can we please just not talk about it? Let's forget it."

"No," Gendry said, frowning. "I don't want to forget it. Like I said, you took it the wrong way and left before I could explain."

"I'm not stupid," Arya said, feeling tears poking at the back of her eyes. "I know why you stopped it. We're just friends, and you don't see me like that."

Gendry shook his head, laughing.

"What?" She demanded, instantly feeling humiliated. "Are you laughing at me?"

"Yes," he said, and she opened her mouth to shout an insult at him, but he held up his hand, "it's just... All this time I've been telling myself that's how you see me, as a friend, and all this time, that's what you've been telling yourself about me. But Arya... I think after yesterday, we can both agree that we don't see each other just as friends."

Arya blinked, unable to speak.

"The reason I stopped it wasn't because I didn't want to," Gendry said hurriedly, and a blush was starting to flower across his face, "because believe me, I did, but I didn't... I didn't want to rush into something that you weren't prepared for."

"I'm prepared," Arya said at once.

"Arya," Gendry said kindly, "a few months ago you had never been kissed, you haven't even had a proper relationship with anyone. Forget you, _I_ haven't had a proper relationship with anyone. What I said about that girl was true. Jesus I can't even remember her name, isn't that pathetic? It was just... Sex, and it didn't feel right."

Arya felt so embarrassed she could die.

"I understand," she said shakily, "if you don't want to be with me because-"

"Will you shut up?" Gendry said. "That's the whole reason I stopped it. Because I want to be with you."

"That doesn't even make any sense," Arya said, frowning.

"Just because I don't think we're ready for _that_ doesn't mean I don't want to... You know, have a relationship," Gendry said awkwardly, his face the color of tomato sauce.

"Are you... Asking me to be your girlfriend?" Arya asked, sure she was misinterpreting things.

"Umm... Yeah... I mean, only if you want to obviously, I don't want to-"

"Don't be stupid," Arya said, cutting across him. "Of course I want to!"

"Oh. Okay. Well brilliant," Gendry said. Arya rolled her eyes.

"You're an idiot," she informed him.

"Yeah, and so are you. What are we going to do about your brothers? Hmm? They all made it very clear that you are off limits," Gendry shot back. Arya blinked. She hadn't thought of that.

"I guess we just won't tell them," she said with a shrug.

"Couldn't that... Be really bad if we were found out?" Gendry said, looking dubious. Arya sighed.

"I'm pretty good at not getting caught," she said, smiling. "And when the time is right, when I'm a bit older, we'll tell them."

Gendry gave her a long, thoughtful look.

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" he asked.

"Because you're an idiot," Arya said, grinning.

"You know," Gendry said, coming towards her, "you really shouldn't insult people bigger than you."

"Then I wouldn't get to insult anyone," she said as he came forward, slinking his arms around her waist. "And you probably shouldn't be doing that. Bran's got all sorts of hiding spots, they could be spying on us right now."

"Very well, as my lady commands," Gendry said pompously, putting up his hands and striding backwards.

"Don't call me my lady!" Arya said, wrinkling her nose.

"Yes, my lady."

She gave him a good, solid push, causing him to tumble to the ground. His laughter followed her as she stalked out of the garden, unable to stop the stupid feeling of glee from spreading across her face.

**A chapter without Gendry's perspective. First one in the history of this fic**

**Things seem to be looking up, but there's still a good deal more to come (five more chapters at the very least I should think, if my estimations are correct).**


	17. Chapter 17

_**Summary: In which Arya and Gendry attempt to go bowling with Hot Pie.**_

__"I'm so glad you're friends with Gendry again."

"We were always friends," Arya said, doing her best not to roll her eyes, "there was just that one day that I was angry with him."

"Still," Sansa said, as Arya pulled on a pair of red shorts that looked like they had taken quite the beating. "It's nice."

"Okay..." Arya said, changing into a tank top and then a cut-up t-shirt.

"You two are hanging out a lot lately," Sansa commented, and Arya couldn't help but feel that she was slightly suspicious. She would have liked to tell Sansa the true nature of her friendship with Gendry, but her older sister had made it very clear how 'inappropriate' such a relationship would be, so she kept her mouth firmly shut.

"Yeah," Arya said, looking at Sansa like she was stupid as she forced on some sneakers. "That's what we do over the summer. We hang out."

"You don't have the crush on him anymore, do you?" Sansa asked. Yes, she definitely was suspicious.

"I'm pretty sure that fiasco a month ago shot that horse in the face," Arya said, cringing just to think of it. "Like you said, we're friends."

_Friends that tend to make-out in the back seat of my car... A lot._

"Good," Sansa said, flipping through a magazine. "Like I said, I'm glad you're friends."

"Are you done being weird now? He's coming to pick me up in a few minutes and I don't want to be late," Arya said, checking the time on her phone before looking in the mirror to see if she had brushed her hair that morning. She had.

"You're hanging out with him _again_? You just saw him yesterday!"

"Sansa," Arya said, getting annoyed. "There was a period where I practically lived at the Forge and you didn't care. Besides, we're going to be hanging out with Hot Pie. You know, bowling?

"Bowling?" Sansa repeated, looking dubious.

"Yeah! Bowling is fun," Arya said, frowning. "You know... It's cool."

"Whatever you say," Sansa said, shaking her head and returning to her magazine.

"You can come too, if you're so suspicious," Arya snapped. "I'll just call Gendry right now and say you're driving me, I know Hot Pie's been asking after you now that you're single-"

"Haha," Sansa cut across her drily. "Thanks but no thanks. Margaery and I are going shopping."

"And you make fun of me for bowling," Arya sighed under her breath, rolling her eyes.

"You should come too sometime," Sansa snapped, "maybe then you'll stop stealing my cloths."

"Naww, stealing from you is cheeper," Arya said as Gendry texted her, signaling that he was there, ready to pick her up. "See you later?"

"How much later?" Sansa asked, suspicious again.

"Oh, I dunno, however long it takes for Gendry and I to get a few good shags in," Arya said very sarcastically. "But then again, that could take all night."

Sansa rolled her eyes.

"Enjoy bowling," she scoffed, turning back to her magazine.

"Get out of my room," Arya commanded as she shoved a bit of money in her pocket before breezing out of her room and down the stairs, slamming the front door behind her. Honestly, Sansa was proving to be a bit of a problem. She just wouldn't let up.

Gendry was waiting, her helmet in his hand, his blue eyes smiling at her from his perch supporting his motorcycle. She grinned at him as well, taking it when she reached him, and then grinning even wider.

"You changed it!"

"Well, yeah. I mean, it's yours, and so I thought, you know, I'd make it special."

Her helmet, which had just been plain black, was now adorned with a sticker in the shape of a wolf head, in honor of her family. She smiled back up at him, not being able to stop herself from looking at the bull sticker on his helmet, one he had made for himself.

"Well? What do you think?"

Even with the helmet covering up his face, she could tell he was blushing.

"What do you think I think, stupid? It's awesome! I love it!" Arya said, punching him in the arm because she couldn't very well kiss him right in front of her house, where she could almost feel Sansa's eyes burning into the back of her skull.

"Shall we my lady?" he asked, patting the seat behind him. Smiling like a fool, she put on her helmet and he laughed.

"How do I look?"

"Like a proper wolf," he said. "Now get on, we're going to be late, and you know how Hot Pie gets when we're late."

"Yeah, and you look like a stupid, bull-headed boy," Arya shot back playfully, getting on the bike and wrapping her arms around him.

"Boy? You insult me," he scoffed, kicking off, and then they were flying again.

"I always insult you!" She shouted in his ear as they zoomed down the street, and his laughter flew back towards her, causing her to laugh too. Summer was here, all right, and with it came a loss of trepidation, causing Arya to forget her family's wise words. _Winter is coming_.

Oooooooooooooo

It only took them a matter of minutes to get to the bowling alley, but they were late all the same. As they turned the corner, Gendry felt himself sigh at the sight of Hot Pie, who was standing outside, looking less than amused. They were in for some serious whining.

"You gave Arya a ride?" Hot Pie sputtered as they pulled up.

"Yeah, so?" Gendry asked, raising his eyebrows as he pulled off his helmet.

"But... But she has a car! She could drive herself! Do I have a car? NO!" Hot Pie complained loudly. Gendry sighed.

"Then get yourself a car," Arya said from behind him, hopping off the motorcycle and taking off her helmet, running a hand through her hair and shaking her head.

"Do I look like I'm made of money?" Hot Pie demanded. "Do you know how long it took me to get here?"

"Ten minutes?"

"AN HOUR! I had to WALK!"

"Oh boo hoo," Arya scoffed, rolling her eyes. "How you suffer. Should I write a song about it?"

"Shut up!"

"You shut up," Gendry said, starting to get annoyed. "You've been complaining for weeks how we never hang out with you anymore, and now we are, and you're _still_ complaining!"

Hot Pie looked grumpy.

"Fine," he snapped. "But you're paying for my lunch."

"What? You want to bankrupt me as well?" Gendry sputtered and Arya laughed. Hot Pie didn't seem to think it was funny.

"Wankers," he muttered darkly under his breath as they trekked inside, the smell of dirty carpets and used shoes hanging in the air of the darkened bowling alley.

"This'll be fun," Arya said, slinking her arm with Gendry's. "I haven't been to one of these in ages!"

Hot Pie turned around and raised his eyebrows when he saw their linked arms. Arya and Gendry immediately dropped the embrace and stepped away from each other.

"Wankers," Hot Pie said again, rolling his eyes and looking forward again. Gendry shot Arya a pointed look. _Rule number 1 of not getting caught in our secret relationship: no PDA. _

They had set several rules when they had started their 'just friends' act, number one obviously being that they would share no public displays of affection, even when they weren't in the company of anyone they knew (as Arya had pointed out, they really couldn't be _too_ careful). The other rule, which played off of the first one, was that they, for the most part, would go about business as usual, and so on and so forth.

So far, they had been successful. No one to Gendry's knowledge suspected a thing. Arya's brothers seemed to have forgiven him (Jon more reluctantly than the others), and more or less had seemed to forget the whole incident. But, of course, their success was probably due to the fact that they hadn't really spent much time together in the presence of Arya's family.

Still, Arya had pointed out that, to fulfill rule number two, it would be a good idea to hang out with Hot Pie once in a while. Gendry had to agree. It wasn't really fair, how quickly they had pushed him to the wayside, and he had noticed.

"What, are you two finally married now or something?" Hot Pie had grumbled one day at the Forge when he had swung by to pay Gendry a visit.

Joke or no joke, it was enough to get Arya to demand that they stop blowing him off. And while Gendry liked Hot Pie, he would have much rather spent his Saturday off doing other things.

"So... Teams?" Arya said when they got their shoes. "How about me and Gendry vs. You, Hot Pie?"

Hot Pie looked like someone had taken a shit in his birthday cake.

"Whatever," he muttered, leaning down to put on his shoes.

Gendry threw an angry look at Arya. Really, Hot Pie was pissed off enough as it was, did she really have to go and make him more annoyed? She just rolled her eyes and shrugged as if to say, _let him be pissy, see if I care_.

It at once became abundantly clear, however, that Hot Pie was a worthy opponent. Though he grumbled and whined, he was twice the player Gendry was (raw force, it turned out, did not matter if you had no aim at all and sent the ball to the gutter more often that not), and the teams were evenly matched.

"Oh come on Gendry," Arya sighed as yet another one of his balls went into the gutter. "Not again!"

"I'm trying," Gendry snapped, waiting for his ball to come up again. "It's easier for you, you've done this before!"

"Here," Arya said briskly, getting up and snatching his ball before he even got a chance to take it. "Let me show you."

She put her fingers in the holes, but as soon as she tried to show him how to throw it, her arm dropped to the floor with the weight of the ball, causing her to swear loudly.

Hot Pie laughed in the background.

"Here," she said, flipping Hot Pie off and then lifting up the ball to give to Gendry. "You do it, and I'll help you."

Gendry shrugged amiably and put his fingers in the holes, lifting the ball up to just under his chin, cradling it.

"All right," Arya said, "look at the pins. Focus on your objective."

"Right," Gendry said, nodding.

"Now pull your arm back," she said, and when he did, he felt her fingers on his arm, adjusting it slightly. "Good. Now, don't actually throw it, but show me how you would."

Gendry did as he was told.

"No!" Arya snapped at once. "You're twisting your wrist! Here, see?"

She reached out to his outstretched wrist and turned it so that it was directed towards the ceiling.

"You want the ball to roll off your fingers," she said, her own fingers trailing to his, leaving goosebumps as they ghosted over his flesh. When he looked at her, she had a perfectly passive expression on her face, but he could tell that she knew what she was doing.

"Oh do I?" he asked, straightening up and raising his eyebrows. She rolled her eyes.

"Just try it you twat, you'll see I'm right," she said, stepping to the side and crossing her arms over her chest, giving him an expectant look.

Gendry winked at her, and he could almost hear her rolling her eyes again as he turned to look at his target, stepping backwards, the ball under his chin, all focus as he swung his arm backwards and then swept it forwards, just as she had instructed, letting the ball roll off his fingers.

"YES!" Arya shrieked as the ball crashed into the pins, scattering all of them. "STRIKE! What did I tell you?"

"Top marks," Gendry teased as she ran forward, looking like she was about to kiss him, and then, as if remembering herself, reached up her hand and gave him a half-five.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me."

Arya and Gendry whipped around to see Hot Pie staring at them, looking scandalized.

"Excuse me?" Arya demanded.

"You two are shagging, aren't you?" Hot Pie demanded, getting to his feet.

Gendry felt his heart drop, and he threw a frantic, panicked look at Arya, whose face had turned fully red in an impressively short amount of time.

"We're not shagging!" She said at once.

It wasn't a lie either. After their previous failed encounter, Arya and Gendry had mutually agreed to take things slow.

"It'll happen when it happens," Arya had said, shrugging. "Putting a date or a set amount of time on it seems stupid. It'll just make it this thing we have to do instead of something we want to do."

Now, Hot Pie looked furious.

"You're dating then, which is worse," Hot Pie snapped waving her off, not fooled in the least.

"Worse?" Gendry said before he could stop himself.

"I knew it!" Hot Pie said. "I knew this was going to happen!"

"Would you stop it? We're just friends!" Arya snarled.

"Yeah and I'm fucking my grandmum!"

"Oh wrong, mate!"

"You shut up! The both of you!" Hot Pie ordered, pointing a finger at them. "Is that why you invited me here? So that I could be your alibi?"

Arya and Gendry shifted guiltily. Hot Pie swore.

"You wankers," he snapped. "You can forget it. I am not about to be the third wheel."

"You're not the third wheel," Arya protested. Hot Pie raised his eyebrows. "Oh? Really?"

Again, they both shifted awkwardly.

"Yeah, sorry, but if you think I'm going to hang around when you're being all coupley and shit-"

"We're not being all coupley!" Arya protested at once.

"'Oh Gendry, you're so dark and handsome! Let me feel your muscles!'" Hot Pie said in a high-pitched voice.

"I _do not_ sound like that!" Arya roared.

"Whatever," Hot Pie said, waving her off.

"Look, mate, we still want to be your friend," Gendry said, cutting in swiftly. Hot Pie gave him an indignant look.

"Well, obviously," he sputtered. "There's just no way in hell that I'm going to hang out with you guys at the same time."

"No one can know," Arya said pleadingly. Hot Pie shrugged.

"Fine," he said. "But you're paying for my lunch, Gendry, as well as my round in the arcade."

"Your round in the arcade?" Arya demanded. Hot Pie shrugged again.

"You were late, I was early," he said. Gendry sighed.

"Fine," he snapped. "Can we finish the game?"

"Yeah," Hot Pie said, "but I want a change in teams. Me and Arya vs. You."

"That's blackmail!" Gendry protested. Hot Pie looked shameless.

"He's harmless," Arya reassured Gendry, patting him on the arm.

"I wouldn't be too sure," Gendry snapped darkly, trading places with a very smug looking Hot Pie. "How long have you known about us?"

"About five minutes," Hot Pie said, taking his ball and rolling a turkey.

"Bullshit," Gendry said. "I don't believe that for a second."

"All right," Hot Pie said, sitting down so a reluctant Arya could play her turn. "I guessed for a long time, but I wasn't sure."

"How did you know?" Arya demanded, returning from only knocking down three pins in her distraction.

"Oh you mean besides the fact that you two were practically ripping off your cloths with your eyes?" Hot Pie said sarcastically.

"No we weren't!" Arya snapped defensively, causing Hot Pie to snort with laughter.

"Look," he said pointedly. "If you are trying to keep this secret, you're failing. It couldn't have been more obvious if you made it public."

"Fantastic," Gendry muttered darkly, getting up to go for his turn.

"Don't look so upset," Hot Pie said smugly. "It's probably only because I know you two so well."

"Twat," Arya snapped, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Hey, I'm doing you two a favor," Hot Pie said, finishing off the game with a spectacular set of strikes. "Someone had to warn you."

"I'd have preferred that warning come with a smaller blow to my wallet," Gendry said with a pout. "Exactly how much money did you spend in the arcade?"

"I dunno," Hot Pie said. "Twenty? Maybe thirty?"

"Brilliant," Gendry sighed as Arya gave him an apologetic look. "We are never taking you bowling again."

**It's so fluffy...**

**I just have such problems writing fluff, it makes me feel like such a fan girl. But Arya's story in asoiaf is **_**far**_** from fluffy, so I guess it's nice to give her character a bit of fluff after GRRM makes her suffer so much.**

**Confession time... I don't know if I can keep up my chapter-a-day routine. Tomorrow I'm going to be really busy, so I don't know if I can write a chapter by then. I'm sorry! =( I'll try, but you've been warned**


	18. Chapter 18

_**Summary: In which Robb and Sansa ruin everyone's party and Gendry says he has a surprise for Arya**_

_SHOOK!_

"Don't say anything."

"I just have to ask-"

"No, you don't."

"-be honest. Were you even trying to hit the target?"

Gendry turned around to see Arya looking at him, biting her lip to keep from laughing as he glared at her in false annoyance. So far, their archery lesson had been nothing short of a disaster. No matter how hard he tried, Gendry just couldn't seem to hit the bloody target. His arrows either went diving into the ground or sailing merrily over it, shooting off across the field of grass and into the garden.

"You're really enjoying this, aren't you?" Gendry demanded. Arya didn't even have the good grace to look ashamed.

"Of course I am," she said, striding forward. "Now pick up another arrow and try again."

"I can't help it if the bloody thing's defective," Gendry grumbled, waving the bow at her as if to illustrate its ineffectiveness.

"The bow's not defective, you are," Arya teased, mocking him as she picked up another arrow and offered it to him. He took it with a scowl that wasn't really a scowl, but he had to at least _pretend_ to be put out. He couldn't just let her win so easily.

"Now try again."

"As my lady comma-OWW! STOP HITTING ME!"

"Stop calling me milady and I'll stop hitting you," Arya said, smirking as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Now you sound like Hot Pie," Gendry said, setting the arrow in place. "Blackmailing me."

"That's hardly blackmail," Arya said as Gendry pulled the string back. "If I really wanted to blackmail you, I'd use something far more incriminating."

"Like what?" Gendry asked distractedly, aiming.

"Well, I have seen your porn collection."

_SHOOK!_

The arrow sailed over the target as Gendry whipped around, nearly tripping and falling flat on his face. Arya snorted with laughter, not phased in the least.

"Will you stop bringing that up in casual conversations?" He demanded, sure his face was the color of a ripe tomato.

"What? And miss out on the look on your face?" Arya asked, laughing. "It really never gets old, you know."

"I'll have you know that I have thrown out most of that," Gendry snapped as Arya continued to laugh at him.

"Most, but not all?" she said, catching him.

"You know what, can we just focus on the archery lesson?" Gendry asked grumpily as Arya chuckled.

"You mean the fact that you can't hit the target?"

"I thought that the perk of being your boyfriend was that you would insult me less frequently," Gendry said as she gave him another arrow.

"If you wanted a nice girlfriend you should have gone out with Sansa," Arya pointed out as Gendry put the arrow in place and then pulled his arm up and back. "Stop! Don't release the arrow yet!"

"Why?"

"Just let me explain what you're doing wrong, all right?" Arya snapped. "Stay still."

"Fine," Gendry relented, arm still pulled back as Arya came up to him looking over his form and biting her lip, and Gendry could almost hear the cogs going off in her head.

"First of all, you want to make sure your elbow's not too high," she said, gently pulling his elbow down slightly. "And then, make your hand that's holding the string like a claw, while still gripping the arrow."

Hands still lingering on his arm, Gendry felt her fingers smoothing out his, molding his fingers against the string. Suddenly, it was becoming very hard to focus on archery.

"Tilt the bow," Arya said softly, her fingers still on his, her brow furrowed in concentration, totally oblivious to the fact that Gendry was completely lost to all of this. She didn't even notice his heart jump when she placed her other hand over his fingers on the bow, tilting it to the angle that she wanted.

"Take a deep breath," she said. "Focus on your target."

Gendry blinked, trying to remember that he was supposed to be listening to what she was saying, but yet again his mind was wondering, following his eyes as he watched her face, so pulled in concentration and determination. So focused.

As if sensing his stare, she looked up and blinked in surprise. Eyes locked, he felt her fingers lift from his and then she placed them lightly on his chest, leaning forward slightly on her feet towards him.

Somewhere, in the wise caverns of his mind, there was a voice telling Gendry that he should probably turn his eyes away from Arya and shoot the arrow. He should probably do that right now, because as it was, it looked like they were very close to kissing, and that was _far_ from a good idea. They were at Winterfell for gods sake! Someone might see them!

Arya didn't seem to be thinking about that either, and if she was, she was ignoring the warning sounds in her head, because she was leaning closer and closer, her eyes drifting down from his eyes to his lips-

"Ahhh! Archery!"

Gendry nearly had a heart attack and Arya looked like she had almost screamed as Robb swaggered onto the lawn, grinning merrily, totally oblivious to the fact that he had nearly caught them in a very awkward situation.

"Arya giving you a lesson Gendry?" He asked, smiling at them both. Arya looked grouchy.

"I was, until you interrupted us," she snapped. Gendry could only thank every god in existence that his back had been turned, so that Robb could not have seen what they were just about to do. "Aren't you supposed to be at a birthing class or something?"

"No," Robb said. "Jeyne's out with her friends, so I thought I'd swing by, see what you were up to, and it's archery! Gendry, if you wanted a good teacher, you should have asked me. I used to do competitions you know."

Gendry shot a glance at Arya, who looked red in the face.

"Don't you have somewhere else to be?" She asked, obviously grumpy at being thwarted. Gendry couldn't help but share her sentiment. They hadn't had a good snog in days, and he was certainly missing it.

"No," Robb said, frowning. "I thought I'd spend the day with you lot. I could help you with Gendry's archery lesson."

Arya looked like she was trying very hard not to strangle Robb.

"It's too bad," she said evenly, "we were just going to leave."

"We were?" Gendry asked stupidly before he could stop himself. Arya stomped on his foot, hard. "I mean, oh, right, yeah, we are!"

Arya gave him a look as if to say _congratulations, you're utterly worthless._

"Oh really?" Robb said, looking disappointed. "Where?"

But before Arya could answer, there was the sound of the glass door opening, and then Sansa stepped out of the house and onto the green.

"What are you all up to?" She asked, walking towards them as well.

"Archery, apparently," Robb said, "but Arya was just telling me that they're leaving."

"Leaving?" Sansa said, frowning. "No! You should stay! Robb's come all this way, and Jon's coming down as well! We could have a picnic, here on the green, just like old times! What do you say, Arya?"

Arya looked like she was about to say no, but Gendry cut across her.

"Yes of course we'll stay, if you're going to all this trouble," he said hastily, and he could almost hear Arya screaming at him in her head. "It sounds like fun, doesn't it Arya?"

"Yes," she said through gritted teeth. "Loads of fun."

"Great! It's settled!" Sansa said, grinning at them all. "I'll go make sandwiches! Arya, could you get the chips?"

"Fine," Arya said grumpily.

"I could help carry drinks," Gendry offered, trying to avoid the absolutely murderous looks Arya was giving him.

"That'd be lovely," Sansa said, and though she smiled, it didn't quite reach her eyes, reminding Gendry of Arya's suspicions that Sansa suspected them.

"I'll go get the blankets," Robb offered, and they all trooped back inside, Gendry and Arya gathering up the bows and arrows.

"We need to talk," Arya hissed under her breath as they did so, and Gendry looked up to see that Sansa had stopped to wait for them.

"Okay," he agreed with a shrug, and then punched her in the arm, as though they had been joking around.

"I have to go visit the loo," he said when they got inside. "Is that upstairs or down?"

"Both," Robb said, "but it can get a bit confusing. Arya, just go show him."

"Sure," Arya said, "come on."

She grabbed his hand and practically dragged him down the hallway and to the bathroom, leaving him to scramble behind her before she threw him in, and then, before Sansa could catch them, darted in as well and slammed the door, locking it.

"Trying to seduce me?" Gendry teased, but she would have none of it.

"What did you do that for?" she hissed. "We were supposed to be making a clean getaway!"

"I thought you said Sansa was suspicious of us," Gendry said.

"She is!"

"Then isn't it good that we're staying? That way she'll see that we have nothing to hide!" Gendry reasoned in a hushed tone.

"But we do have something to hide!"

"Exactly! If we had run off, it would have looked suspicious!" Gendry hissed. Arya still looked annoyed.

"No it wouldn't have!" She snapped. "Now we're probably going to get caught and-"

Her angry rant was cut off by the fact that Gendry had leaned forward and silenced her with a kiss.

"What are you doing?" she demanded, pushing him off at once. Not deterred in the least, Gendry slinked his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. "Stop it!"

"Oh shut up," he said kissing her neck. "This was the reason you were upset, wasn't it? Because Robb interrupted us?"

Arya gave an annoyed little huff, but he could already tell that she was giving up her protest.

"Well if you're going to do that, don't fool around and kiss me properly," she snapped.

"As milady commands," Gendry said, leaning in and capturing her lips very quickly before she could assault him again. Arya, it would seem, was not about to let a chance at kissing, when they had so very few, slip by just because he teased her. Oh no, in fact, he felt her hands running themselves through his hair, her lips moving with his as she effortlessly slid her tongue in his mouth, leaving him breathless-

"ARYA? Arya, where are you?"

"Oh for fucks sake," Arya groaned, breaking the embrace and uncoiling herself from Gendry. "I'm going to kill her."

"No you're not," Gendry said, "she's your sister."

"Whatever," Arya snarled.

"Arya? Arya?"

"Shit! She's coming!" And in a flash Arya was out of the bathroom and shutting the door silently behind her.

"Where were you?" Sansa's voice demanded from down the hall.

"Will you stop freaking out? I was just showing Gendry to the bathroom. I told him two doors down and he ended up in the game room," Arya lied effortlessly, and then they were both gone.

Gendry sighed, running a hand through the back of his hair and tried very hard not to think about the kiss they had just shared. It would just lead to discomfort and frustration, and he already had quite enough of that already. Whether it was unwise or not, he really did agree with Arya. When it was all said and done, he would much rather spend time snogging in the backseat of her car.

Oooooooooooooo

"Do you remember the time that you and Jon put that water balloon in Joffrey's pants?"

"Yes," Jon said, grinning as he took a bite of sandwich.

"That was brilliant. I remember, I was trying so hard not to laugh-"

"No you weren't, you were furious," Arya cut across Sansa as they all sat on the green, eating their picnic. Jon had just arrived, choosing to sit right in between Arya and Gendry, and they were all enjoying their sandwiches, reminiscing about old times.

"I only _looked_ furious," Sansa said, pouting.

"Don't pretend that there wasn't a time you weren't absolutely mad about Joffrey," Arya said, reaching into the bag of chips. "Because we all know there was."

"She has a point," Jon said. "Remember when there was that time that you doodled 'Mrs. Joffrey Baratheon' all over your notes?"

"And her papers for school."

"And even the calendar, I think that one time-"

"All right, shut up all of you," Sansa snapped, frowning as Arya, Robb, Jon and Gendry all laughed.

"I still can't believe you and Gendry beat that little shit up," Robb sighed, lying back to survey the clouds.

"Ahh yes," Arya said, feeling her cheeks flare with heat to think about it. It wasn't so much the beating... As what came after it. "It was... Err..."

"It was hilarious," Gendry cut in quickly. "Arya was brilliant. You should have seen her kick him."

Robb and Sansa laughed. Jon just picked moodily at his sandwich. Though Jon had protested otherwise, Arya still had the nagging suspicion that he had not quite forgiven Gendry yet. It was her fault, of course, for even telling Jon in the first place. It had been a bloody stupid thing to do.

"I'm sorry I missed out," Sansa said, taking a swig of soda.

"Aren't we all?" Robb said, and then they all laughed again.

Arya sighed. Usually, she would have enjoyed this a lot more. And it wasn't that she wasn't enjoying it at all, because she was. She loved spending time with her family, especially like this, with her brothers, laughing and enjoying themselves. Even Sansa, despite being so suspicious, was being enjoyable. As the picnic wore on, she seemed less and less inclined to make sure Arya and Gendry were up to no good.

But despite all the fun she really was having, she couldn't help but think back to her interrupted kisses with Gendry, and how, navigating around her family, fencing practice, and his work, it had been unexpectedly difficult to find time to do things like kiss. It wasn't that they didn't hang out a lot, because they did, but that's all they seemed to be doing.

She knew that she had wanted to wait, after their failed encounter, and so had he, but... But it seemed to bloody difficult sometimes. Whenever he stopped her, Arya felt a sense of heightening annoyance and frustration. They had said they would wait, but for what? And for how long, exactly?

"Arya? Arya? I asked you a question," Sansa said, snapping Arya out of her mental reverie.

"What?" She blinked. "Oh, sorry, I spaced out."

"I was just asking you about Hot Pie," Sansa said. "You never seem to talk about him anymore."

"Why? Are you interested?" Arya said sarcastically. "I could give him your number."

Gendry snorted with laughter as he took a sip of soda, spraying a very unamused Jon in the face.

"No," Sansa snapped over Gendry's feverish apologies and Robb's hysterical laughter. "I was just wondering. How'd bowling go?"

Arya flashed Gendry a look.

"Not well," she said. "The little shit forgot his wallet and made Gendry pay for his lunch."

"And his round at the arcade," Gendry added, wiping Jon's face. "You know, I think he got there early on purpose."

"I wouldn't put it past him," Arya sighed darkly, taking another chip.

After that, it sort of went downhill. Jon really hadn't appreciated being showered by Gendry's spittle, and it hadn't boded well with the fact that he was still less than pleased with Gendry for kissing Arya. And then Robb had gotten a panicked phone call from Jeyne, who was convinced that something was wrong with the baby (though, in reality, Robb had called them all later and told them that it had just been gas). After Robb had run out in all haste and distress, even Sansa had to admit that the party was over, and finally (_finally_), Arya and Gendry were allowed to slip away under the pretense that Arya had to give Gendry a ride home.

"I hope Jon's okay," Gendry said as they drove back to his flat.

"Oh he'll be fine," Arya said, waving him off. "He's just put out that you dampened his hairdo."

"Haha-Hey! What are you doing?"

"Pulling over."

"Yes I can see that, what-"

"Get in the back."

"Oh. Right."

She didn't have to tell him twice. Arya had never seen Gendry move so quickly. She had barely opened the door before he was dragging her inside and kissing her.

"I've missed this," he said through their kissing.

"Shut up and take off your shirt," Arya said. "If you talk it only makes me feel stupid."

"Fine by me," Gendry said, shrugging, and then he pulled off his dark grey t-shirt effortlessly.

"Much better," Arya said, kissing him again and pulling him close, crushing his skin against her and trailing her fingers down his upper back.

"What was that about not talking?" Gendry asked and she rolled her eyes.

"Shut up," she snapped, running her hands through his hair as he leaned his head down, trailing kisses on her jaw bone and neck, his fingers spanning across her ribcage, his thumbs rubbing the undersides of her breasts.

"I don't think this is fair," he said, his breath ticking her neck, "that you're wearing so much clothing and I'm not."

"Are you trying to tell me to take my shirt off?" Arya said, and he laughed.

"What do you think?"

"I think you talk to much," she said, pulling backwards and then pulling her shirt over her head.

"And I'm pretty sure you never had bras like that before," Gendry said, nodding towards the lacy thing she had on. "Do you have those in large supply or were you planning on seducing me today?"

"The latter," Arya said, not phased in the least. "Now shut up. And DON'T say 'as my lady commands'!"

"Yes milday."

"I am going to throttle you... After I kiss you," Arya snarled as he pulled him closer, kissing him hard on the mouth.

"Mhmmm," Gendry said through their kisses, pushing her gently backwards, so that he hovered over her, dipping his head to meet hers as she wrapped her legs around his, sliding her tongue in his mouth again.

It was probably not such a bad thing that they had been kept from doing this for a substantial amount of time, Arya thought to herself as Gendry groaned into her mouth, one of his fingers trailing over her breast, dipping under her bra and gently stroking the tender flesh there, because they were certainly making up for lost time. If anything, this was better than their last few encounters.

Without even thinking about it, Arya slid her hands down Gendry's chest and to his pants, unbuttoning them and then pushing them downwards, trailing her hands back up and along the line of his underwear. She could feel him, and his urgency, and his want, and felt it too, her kisses becoming more and more urgent, her body pushing against his touch, wanting more.

"Arya-"

"Shut up."

"No Arya-"

She sighed as he pulled up, looking almost as disappointed as she felt. She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, he was putting on his shirt.

"Again?" She said, not even bothered by how childish she sounded.

"I was thinking," Gendry said, ignoring her completely, "that Saturday is exactly one month since we went on our first date."

"So?" Arya said, sitting up as well and reluctantly grabbing her shirt.

"You are the most unromantic person I've ever met," Gendry snapped, wriggling back into his pants. "I was going to suggest we do something special-"

"Like what?" She asked, frowning.

"It's a surprise," he said.

"A surprise?" she repeated, eyebrows raised and looking dubious.

"Well if you don't want to-"

"I don't like surprises," Arya said, cutting across him.

"I know," Gendry said, grinning wickedly. "That's why I thought I'd make it one."

"I hate you," she said, rolling her eyes and hitting him.

"So is that a yes to my surprise?" He asked, nudging her. She rolled her eyes again.

"Fine," she said. "But if it's something stupid, like, I dunno, going to a movie-"

"Come on, have a little faith in me," Gendry said, looking insulted. "I'm not an idiot."

"Well, now I know that's not true."

"If I was an idiot, you wouldn't be dating me," Gendry pointed out very validly. Arya sighed. It was true... More or less.

"So..." she said. "This surprise..."

"Will be fun," Gendry said, grinning again. "I promise."

**Well? Was it worth the wait?**

**I was listening to my iPod, and I can't help but feel like the song 'Candles' by Daughter fits them perfectly. Actually, basically every song by Daughter fits them perfectly. I have problems**


	19. Chapter 19

**Okay, so, I really wasn't going to post this chapter tonight, and stick to my chapter-a-day routine, but then I realized that I'm going to be super busy tomorrow, and Wednesday, and might not get another chance to post it. So there, it's early. You're welcome.**

_**Summary: In which Gendry and Arya go on Gendry's surprise**_

Arya wasn't nervous. She wasn't. Really.

She wasn't even excited. She hated surprises. And Gendry's was probably something stupid, like going out to lunch or something. Or, knowing Gendry, he'd probably just take her back to the Forge.

So, if she wasn't excited, or nervous, why couldn't she just get dressed already? Throw on some jean shorts and a white t-shirt and be done with it? Why was she even thinking about this? ARGH! STUPID GENDRY AND HIS SURPRISES!

If she only knew what he had planned, then this wouldn't be so bloody difficult. Would they be going someplace formal?

"No," Gendry had said.

Would she have to look nice then?

"No."

Would it be hot, would it be cold? Would they be indoors? Outdoors?

"You ask too many questions. Just dress for summer," Gendry had said, and then, before she could ask any more questions, he got out of the car and poked his head in, "I'll be picking you up early, so be ready. It's a long drive."

It was absolutely infuriating. Was he trying to drive her insane? _Yes._

It was no use. She just simply couldn't put on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. It seemed like a poor thing on her part to look dumpy while he had obviously planned something special. But what did she have? Absolutely nothing.

It seemed like a quick trip to Sansa's closet was in order, and since Sansa was over at Margaery's (probably soaking up sun by their pool and eyeing Margaery's very hot, but sadly very gay older brother), it was the perfect opportunity to browse her sisters clothes without the fear of being caught.

_Why is everything so pink?_ Arya thought, scrunching up her nose as she took in Sansa's closet. Everything was a different shade of pink, or lavender or light blue. Why couldn't she have a sister that was just a little less girly? Still, it was worth a shot to at least take a look, as Sansa was bound to have something a little more appropriate for a surprise, one-month anniversary date.

It became abundantly clear that Sansa was a fan of the cardigan, and flowing knee-length skirts, and summer dresses. She had some nice belts though, and Arya chose one that would fit nicely around her waist, and then snagged a white, high-waisted, thin and light pleated skirt. She turned to leave, but then she passed by Sansa's dresser and stopped, considering.

Was it bad to borrow your sisters lingerie? She was already stealing her clothes, so... How bad could it be stealing something else?

Feeling like a true thief for the first time, she sighed and gritted her teeth, reaching out and pulling open Sansa's drawer. She really wouldn't have done it if Gendry hadn't been wrong when he accused her of having an army of lacy bras. The truth was she only had the two, and those were by pure happenstance (Margaery really did think she was funny when she gave those to Arya), and... Well... She couldn't help but suspect the reason that Gendry had stopped her a few days ago in the car was that he had planned something for today. Something other than the plan, that was.

It turned out that Sansa had a nice tan bra covered in white lace, and, well, like it or not, Arya decided on stealing it, slamming the drawer shut and then running like the wind back to her room to change, which she really had little time to do.

She grabbed a grey t-shirt from her closet, pulled up the skirt to her waist and looped the belt around it. As she grabbed a pair of earrings that looked like little swords that Jon had given her for her last birthday, Arya spotted something that she hadn't seen in a long time.

It was her old necklace that Gendry had made for her when he was still in high school, years ago in wood shop class. It was cut from metal, beautiful, with surprisingly delicate attention to detail, the head of the wolf pulled back and howling. There was a time where she wouldn't even take it off, but then the chain had broken, and after she got it fixed, she was too afraid to wear it again for fear that she might break it or lose it. Now, it seemed only fitting that she wear it.

Her phone buzzed on her dresser and she knew that Gendry was there, waiting for her. Cursing under her breath, she grabbed a pair of black converse (which really didn't go with the outfit, but she had no time to find something more appropriate) and ran out of her room, grabbing her phone on the way.

"Arya!" Her mother called, catching her on the stairs. "Where are you going in such a rush?"

"Oh, just off to hang out with Gendry," Arya said casually, and then... Well it was better safe than sorry. "But then, he's going to drop me off at Tiffany Trotton's, it's her birthday and I'm sleeping over."

"Tiffany Trortton?" Catelyn repeated, frowning. "I don't remember her."

"Yeah you wouldn't," Arya said. "She's not my favorite person, but she invited me so I thought..."

"No, of course," Catelyn cut in, smiling, "it sounds fun. While you're hanging out with Gendry, would you run and get her a present?"

"Oh yeah, sure," Arya said, feeling a pang of guilt at the lie. "See you tomorrow mum."

"What time should I come pick you up?" Catelyn asked, smiling.

"Oh! Umm, no need, she lives like, a neighborhood away from Gendry and he owes me a ride," Arya said, feeling more and more guilty.

"All right..." Catelyn said, giving Arya a searching look. "Call me."

"Of course, Mum," Arya said, and with that she closed the door behind her and raced down the drive to where Gendry was waiting, a picnic basket strapped to the back of his motorcycle.

"You're eager to see me," he said as she came to a running stop, her feet slapping loudly on the pavement as she tried to slow down very quickly in a short amount of time. "I thought you weren't excited for this surprise."

"I'm not," she snapped. "I just don't want to be late."

"So you are? Excited, I mean?" he said, grinning at her. She flipped him off.

"Just give me my helmet," she snapped.

"As milady- OWW!"

"Stop. Calling. Me. Milady," Arya hissed through gritted teeth as he half laughed, half winced in pain, handing her the helmet.

"Fine, fine," he said. "Now would you please stop hitting me?"

"Deal," Arya said, getting on the bike, helmet already secured on her head. "Now where are we going."

"Nope. Not telling. It's a surprise," Gendry said, taking off down the road when she wrapped her arms securely around him.

"You and you're damn surprises," Arya grumbled as they flew down the lane and away from Winterfell.

Gendry had been right, it _was_ a long drive. One farther than King's Landing, or even Dorne. They passed by the green, rolling hills of the North and the palm-treed suburbanism of the South, and then they were zooming into a territory she had never been to, flying somewhere that she did not know.

And then, as they climbed up a high hill and then broke over it, whizzing down at top speed, she saw her surprise.

The sea, stretching out in front of them as far as the eye could see, it's great, blue mass glimmering in the warm sun of the day. The expanse of blue turned white as it clashed against the wall or the cliffs, their beige, cragged faces standing tall against the spray.

"Surprise!" Gendry shouted over his shoulder, laughing as she gripped him. "Welcome to Braavos!"

They pulled to a stop at one of the beaches that stretched on in a crescent shape for miles. It was hot, and the sun beat down on their backs, but there was a lovely breeze from the North and Arya could almost feel the spray from the water against her skin. Closing her eyes, she sighed, smelling the scent of salt and sea and sun in the air.

"Well?" Gendry said, appearing with the picnic basket. "Are you happy?"

"You should have told me we were going to the beach! I would have worn something more appropriate!" Arya snapped, but she was grinning.

"What? Isn't that fine?" Gendry asked, completely clueless as to those things, as they left the parking lot and trooped onto the beach, walking carefully over the round, white rocks.

"No," Arya said. "It's far too nice. And I would have brought my swim suit!"

"Who needs swim suits?" Gendry asked, grinning wickedly.

"Oh was this a nude beach? I hadn't realized," Arya said sarcastically.

"Surprise!" Gendry said again, laughing as they picked a spot just close enough to the water, but not too close so that they would be in danger of getting swept away.

"Now I know why you seemed so excited," Arya teased, sitting down on the blanket he had laid out.

"Ha ha," Gendry said, sitting down next to her, and then, kissing the side of her head.

"What was rule number one again?" Arya said, raising her eyebrows.

"Arya, we're in Braavos, no one is going to know who we are," Gendry said. "Lighten up and eat your chicken."

"Ooh chicken!"

After they had eaten lunch, they sat and watched the waves lap at the shore, listening as they rose and fell. It was beautifully peaceful, and Arya couldn't help but agree with Gendry, that this was fun and had been a good surprise.

"Shall we go put our feet in?" Gendry asked, rolling up his pants and kicking off his shoes.

"Sure," Arya agreed, kicking off her own and taking his hand. It felt weird, to act like... Well, the couple they were, when they had been so careful in the past. She almost felt like they were about to get caught at any second, that Jon and Sansa would leap up from the waves and shriek "I knew it!"

As it was, they did not.

The water was cold, but not so cold, not like the beaches in King's Landing. Warmer. And Braavos, in Arya's opinion, was much more beautiful.

"Well?" Gendry asked. "You're being awfully quiet."

"That's because I'm enjoying myself," Arya said. Gendry laughed.

"So that's why you don't like talking when we-"

"Make out? I'm pretty sure any normal person doesn't want to carry on an analysis of feelings when their trying to kiss someone," Arya cut across him.

"Don't be a jerk," Gendry said, kicking some water at her.

"GENDRY! DON'T!" Arya shrieked. "This is Sansa's!"

"What was that? Splash you?" Gendry said, pretending not to hear and then splashing at her again with more force as she tried to run away.

Just as she thought she could make her escape and yell at him from the safety of the shore, she felt Gendry grab hold of her wrist, yanking her back, but, it appeared that he had miscalculated the force at which he yanked her, and they went stumbling back, falling straight into the water with an all mighty crash.

"GENDRY!" She screamed, just as a wave hit them, crashing over her head and drowning out her shrieks of fury. When it rolled over them and towards the shore, she leapt to her feet, shrieking, while Gendry howled with laughter.

"YOU IDIOT!" She screeched. "THIS IS SANSA'S! SHE'S GOING TO KILL ME! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

And with that she set herself upon him, splashing water into his face as he roared with laughter, not frightened in the least.

"Stop laughing! Sto-"

He effectively cut her off by splashing a wave water in her face.

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

He threw his head back and barked with laughter as the waves rolled past them and Arya spit water from her mouth, her glare murderous.

"STOP LAUGHING! THIS IS SERIOUS!"

"Arya," he said through spurts of laughter, "this is hardly serious."

"Stop," she glared, but he kept laughing. And before she could stop herself, she was laughing too. "You're so stupid!"

Gendry shrugged, and then pulled her towards him, kissing her. His mouth tasted salty, like the sea. And then Arya brought her arm around and splashed him in the face.

"You little shit!" He cried, spiting water from his mouth and grabbing her around the middle as she tried to run away, crashing back down into the water.

"You started it!"

After splashing around for a while, they were both exhausted, and Arya pointed out that Sansa's skirt could only take so much, and if she ripped it, her older sister might murder her.

"Besides," Arya said, "how could I explain it? Oh I just happened to wander off into the ocean in Braavos? Oops?"

"Don't worry," Gendry said casually, "we'll just stop by my place and you can wash it all off. She won't be able to know the difference."

"Okay," Arya said in a small voice, her stomach suddenly in butterflies. She had no idea why she was so nervous, maybe Gendry hadn't planned anything for this weekend. Maybe this was just his surprise. Maybe she was just being stupid.

Maybe.

Oooooooooooooooo

"I'm soaked, asshole," Arya said, shaking her skirt as Gendry stepped aside, letting her pass by him and into his apartment.

"Don't go shaking all your water all over my apartment! I just cleaned!" Gendry protested, shutting the door behind him.

"Cleaned? You don't even know the definition of the word," Arya scoffed, shaking the the slightly wet hair out of her eyes.

"Okay so I finally washed my dirty cloths..."

"Aha! Knew it," she said, turning around and throwing him a mocking look. He grinned. Or, at least he tried to grin. It was very hard to act normal when he realized that they were in his apartment, alone, and she was about to take most, if not all of, her clothes off. _Be cool_, _Gendry, be cool._

"So..." she asked, suddenly awkward as well. "Should I go in the bathroom or...?"

Or? Or? She was asking him a question! _Answer her question Gendry!_

"Sure," he heard himself saying, kicking himself mentally when he did. "Umm, the washing machine's right next to it. I'll just... Err... Wait for you there."

_I sound so stupid it almost hurts._ What was wrong with him?

"Okay," she said, giving him a half smile and then going into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.

Sighing, Gendry set down the picnic basket and blanket and then went to the washing machine, staring at it for several minutes before rolling his eyes at himself and kicking into action, peeling his sticky wet shirt from himself, and then unbuttoning his pants, pulling them down as well and then placing them on the washing machine.

The door clicked open and Arya came out, red in the face and looking awkward, her clothes balled up in her hand. Gendry gulped, and hoped to god she didn't notice the shift in his pants. She was dressed in nothing but a nude bra with lots of white lace and then a pair of very thin underwear, and it was very, very difficult not to let his eyes wonder.

"Here," she said meekly, handing him the ball of clothes. He couldn't speak in reply. His mouth was too dry.

"Umm... This is... Umm Sansa's too," she said, motioning towards the bra. Gendry gulped.

"We...Uhh, w-we should probably wash it too then," he stammered out, his face on fire.

"Yeah, probably," she said with a little nervous laugh. "Should I just go back-"

"No," he said. "Here, let me."

She blinked in surprise, but then a little smile flowered across her face and she nodded, turning around so that he could help her unclasp it.

Really, it was sort of a stupid idea, since he had never had the talent or flash for effortlessly unhooking a bra, but Arya didn't seem to mind. She shivered softly at his touch, and then sighed as his fingers collided gently with her skin, trailing at the place where her bra had been, sliding across the wide expanse of pale skin.

She took it off and handed it to him, and he set it on the washer, unable to breath as she looked at him, and then turned around.

He sucked in a sharp breath, and knew, whether she was looking or not, it was the reaction his body was having was pretty obvious. Never in a million years had he ever envisioned himself standing there, with a half naked Arya, staring up at him uncertainly. Well, he had envisioned it, but he had never thought it would _actually_ happen.

She wouldn't be Arya if she didn't take his gob smocked expression the wrong way, and her arms flew around herself, covering up her breasts.

"Don't," Gendry said softly, gently reaching out and pulling her arms away.

"You're disappointed," she accused, but he chuckled.

"I thought _I_ was supposed to be the stupid one," he said, letting go of her wrists, and then, tentatively, he reached out a hand and cupped her breast, gently circling his thumb. She shuttered, her eyes wide.

"So... Then you're not disappointed?" She asked disbelievingly.

"Arya, don't be stupid. Of course I'm not disappointed," he said, furrowing his brow. "You're beautiful."

"Oh please," she said, rolling her eyes.

"What? You are," Gendry protested and she sighed, smiling at him and then shaking her head. "Don't look at me like that."

"I knew there was a reason I kept you around," she said, grinning at him, a hint of mischievousness in her eyes.

Smiling, he took her hand and pulled her closer to him, so that her breasts almost touched his chest, and then dipped his head down, catching her lips with his in a gentle kiss. She returned it, but with a sense of increased urgency, wrapping her arms around his head and bringing their bodies together, causing her breasts to collide with his chest, a sensation that went straight to his groin.

"Arya-"

"If you try to stop it one more time, I am literally going to cut out-"

"Okay just checking," he said quickly, putting his lips back on hers and gently prodding his tongue in her mouth.

Her breasts moved against his chest again, causing him to groan, and he slid his hands from her waist and upwards to her breasts, his thumbs caressing them in small circles, his tongue molding hot against hers as she let out a little moan, running her hands through his hair and then bumping into his groin, causing him to gasp aloud, his face exploding with embarrassment.

If she cared, she didn't show it. In fact, he felt one of her hands sliding from his hair, down his chest and then trailing against the line of his underwear before she gently pulled it away from his skin and snaked her hand inside.

"Arya-" he gasped in shock, but she ignored him, trailing her fingers downwards and then taking him in her hand, running her fingers up and down his length experimentally, causing him to shutter and gasp against her mouth.

"Bed," he croaked, barely able to see straight and she nodded, wrapping her legs around him as he lifted her up and stumbled to the bed, her hand in his pants making it very difficult to walk.

"Stop," he said, trying to set her down gently and failing.

"You want me to stop?" she asked dubiously.

"No," he said at once, stopping her wrist as she began to pull back. "No, definitely not."

"I thought not," she said, grinning as she brought her head up to kiss him, her hand back in his pants again, stroking him as he shuttered for breath, one hand on her breast, the other propping him up.

He grazed his fingers down from her breast and then, gently, he slid her underwear down and snaked his had between her legs.

She gasped aloud, breaking their feverish kisses, and looked into his eyes, her own wide and surprised. And shy.

At first, she seemed uncomfortable, her kisses distracted, as he stroked her, gently, unsure as to whether he should stop. That maybe she was too shy or too afraid of looking stupid to tell him to stop when, suddenly, she gripped his shoulder, hard.

"There," she gasped. "Don't stop."

He did as she commanded, biting back a, "as milady commands," because he was sure it would make her want to stop, and he didn't think he could stop, not when she was stroking him like that.

She only stopped to fumble with his wet boxer shorts, pushing them down and off him, and then pulling back slightly, drinking in the sight of his naked body. Gendry tried very hard not to blush, but, well, it was inevitable. He was blushing.

Gently, he leaned down and, removing his hand from her, peeled back her underwear and tossed it on the ground behind them.

There was a moment's pause.

"I have to ask-"

"Yes," she interrupted, looking nervous for the first time.

"Are you sure?"

There was another pause.

"Yes," she whispered, looking straight into his eyes, and in that split second, Gendry realized that he loved her. It should have been obvious, really, but there it was.

"Okay," he said, leaning down and kissing her gently. "It's going to hurt."

"I know that," she said, sounding annoyed, and he chuckled. "But I... Err... Imagine it will hurt a lot more because you're not... You know..."

"Small-prick Joffrey?"

"Please do not bring him up right now."

"Sorry," he said, laughing at the disgusted look on her face and then kissing her again, tenderly.

They kissed again, and again, and again, and Gendry could feel her growing more and more nervous. It seemed like it was time to cut the build-up, because it was making it worse, and get down to business.

Gently, he rolled over her and positioned himself over her, taking a moment to look at her before she nodded, squeezing her eyes closed.

Gritting his teeth, he sighed, really wishing there was another way around this, but there wasn't. It would hurt no matter what he did. And so he just did it.

"FUCK!" She shouted, wrenching up and grabbing his shoulder in pain, and then looking embarrassed. "I mean... Oww, that really wasn't as bad as I expected."

"Do you want me to stop?" Gendry asked seriously. "If it hurts too much..."

"No," she said fiercely. "No just... Umm... Give me a minute."

"Okay," he said as she squeezed her eyes shut again, taking a few deep breaths, and then leaned down so that she was lying on her back, gazing up at him. She nodded.

He moved slowly, carefully, and she grimaced at first, but them she closed her eyes, and sighed softly, and he leaned down and kissed her, and she kissed him back, sighing into the liquid rhythm he was setting, arching her body to his.

He reached down and touched her again, and she moaned, lying back against the pillows, her eyes never leaving his as he began to rock back and forth faster, his breath coming out in urgent puffs, feeling his release building and building.

Her eyes began to widen as he stroked her faster and faster to match his own rhythm, and then, to both their surprises, she came, her eyes popping open and her breath gasping from her lungs as she arched up, clenching around him, and causing him to climax as well, his eyes never leaving hers.

He rolled off her quickly, so as not to crush her, and laid there for a few minutes, both of them catching their breath.

"Are you okay?" he asked at once, rolling over to face her as she stared up at the ceiling. She looked over at him, and then she started to laugh.

"More than okay, I think," she said, giggling. It was a very rare thing to hear Arya Stark giggle.

"Did it hurt too much?" He asked, concerned.

"It hurt like a bitch," she said, frowning at the thought of it. "But that doesn't mean that I did enjoy some of it."

"You did?" he asked.

"I came, didn't I?" She said, raising an eyebrow.

He nodded. She had a point.

"Still," she said after a long period of silence. "I don't think we'll be doing that again for a couple of days."

"Fine by me," Gendry said. He still couldn't believe they had done it. And it had been brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

They were silent for a little while longer.

"Do you want to go take a shower?" Gendry asked softly. "I can put your clothes in the wash and clean up here. You're parents will probably be wondering where you got to."

"No they won't be," Arya sighed, sitting up. "I told my mum I'd be at some girl's house for the night."

"You did?" Gendry asked, shocked. Arya shrugged.

"I figured it would be better to be safe than sorry," she said, getting up and wincing when she did.

"So you're spending the night then?" Gendry said, slightly awe-struck.

"Well... Yeah, I mean, if that's okay with you," she said sheepishly.

"Yeah. It's great with me," he said earnestly, and she smiled.

"I'll just go... Shower then," she said, padding off to the bathroom as he got up as well and set to work.

He stripped the bed of the sheets and put them in the washing machine, along with all their wet, sea-smelling cloths and then put the soap in, starting a load. Next, he went and got clean sheets, and had just finished putting them on the bed when Arya came out of the shower, her hair wet and a towel wrapped around her.

"Do you want to get dressed or...?" He asked, but she shook her head.

"Let's just get into bed," she said, already climbing in herself. He shrugged and complied, letting her snuggle into him as he did and thoughtlessly started stroking her hair, his fingers lightly ghosting over the skin of her bare shoulders.

They didn't talk, and soon her breathing became deeper and deeper, her eyes drifting closed as she sighed, exhausted, a smile still lingering at the corners of her mouth as she drifted off to sleep, looking perfectly content.

**There. They did it. Come on, you have to admit, it was nice to have to work for it. As Captain Jack Sparrow says, and I quote, 'it's not the destination so much as the journey.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Ahhhhh I'm getting so busy as the summer progresses, and then I'm going to start taking a summer art class that's going to take up all of my time so I'm really not sure if I can keep up my crazy posting schedule. There. You've been warned.**

_**Summary: In which Gendry freaks out for no reason and they both attend the annual Stark summer carwash.**_

The sound of a guitar screeching jolted Arya from her sleep, causing her to jump up violently, nearly screaming.

"Fuck!"

She blinked, whirling around to see Gendry, who looked like he also might have pissed himself a little, slam his hand on his alarm, silencing it.

"Sorry," he said, gasping for breath, "I forgot to turn off my alarm."

"Don't you have work?" Arya asked, her heart still racing. "Won't you be late?"

"Arya," he said, turning to look at her, "it's Sunday."

"Oh, right."

She blinked again, trying to get her head straight. Trying to think. Her mind was running in different, very confused directions, and she needed a moment to sort it out. Yesterday, they had gone to Braavos, and it had been perfect. And then... And then...

"We had sex," she said out loud, before she could stop herself, and turning bright red when she did.

"Well, yeah," Gendry said, as though she was stupid.

She took a deep breath. Had they really done it? Was she really not a virgin any more? It seemed... Weird. A good weird though.

"Hey, are you okay?" Gendry asked, sitting up and placing a hand gently on her shoulder. "You're not... Regretting it or anything, are you?"

He almost sounded scared.

"No," she said at once, and it was true. She didn't regret it. "I'm just... Thinking about it, I suppose. Is that weird?"

"No," Gendry said with a shrug.

"I mean, I knew it would happen," she said, shaking her hair out of her eyes.

"You did?"

"Well, yeah," Arya said with a frown. "Didn't you?"

"I mean, eventually," Gendry sputtered, and then he narrowed his eyes. "Wait... How did you know to let your mum think you were spending the night at someone else's house?"

Arya shrugged smugly.

"I dunno, I guess I thought I'd rather be safe than sorry," she said.

"Safe..." And then, suddenly, Gendry's eyes widened in horror and he leapt from the bed in alarm. "ARYA!"

"What?" She yelled back.

"WE DIDN'T-YOU-WE DIDN'T USE PROTECTION!" He shouted in horror, grabbing at his hair. "Shit! Shit! How can I be so bloody stupid?"

"I know," Arya said with a pleasant frown. "I thought you had experience."

"Arya! This is no laughing matter! You could end up pregnant or-!"

"Will you calm your tits?" Arya snapped, stretching. "Luckily for you, I know you're stupid. Don't worry, I'm on the pill. Like I said, better safe than sorry."

"You are?" He gasped, looking immensely relieved.

"Yeah," she said, running her fingers through her tangled hair. "Ever since we started dating."

"Ever since..." He said, looking flabbergasted. "But how...? How did you explain that one to your Mum and Dad?"

"I told them I had bad cramps," she said with a shrug. "They believed me."

"Ever since..." Gendry repeated stupidly, staring at her. "You planned on seducing me ever since we started dating?"

"Probably before," Arya said with a wicked grin, "but who's keeping track?"

"Oh really?" He asked, climbing back into bed and pausing a breath away from her lips. "Well then, I never really stood a chance, did I?"

"So glad you finally figured that out," she said, right before her kissed her. "Ugh."

"What?" He demanded, pulling back.

"One, you have morning breath," she said, laughing at him, "and two, there is no way we are going to be fooling around for a few days, or several. Give me time to recover."

"Fine," Gendry said grumpily, rolling off her. "And just so you know, your breath doesn't smell like a bed of roses either."

"Aww," Arya said mockingly, sticking out her lower lip, and Gendry flipped her off good-naturedly.

Gendry got up and padded, naked, to his dresser drawer, where he fished around, and then threw a pair of shorts and a t-shirt at her before getting some clothes for himself. As Arya pulled the shirt over her head, she couldn't help but look him up and down again, something that did not go unnoticed.

"Are you checking me out?" Gendry demanded, putting on his boxers.

"Yes," she said, "and don't act so scandalized. It's not like you weren't trying to show off or anything. Tell me, does everyone flex when they put on their boxer shorts, or is that just you?"

"I was not flexing," Gendry snapped, putting on his t-shirt.

"Oh no?" Arya asked, wriggling into her shorts. "So I just, what? Hallucinated?"

"Sounds about right," he teased.

After punching him in the arm, they set about brushing their teeth (Gendry having to spend a very long time fishing around for a spare, clean toothbrush for Arya to use), and then, stomachs both growling, decided that breakfast would be a good idea.

"What do you want to make?" Gendry asked as they walked into the kitchen. Arya shrugged.

"I dunno," she said, "I'm shit at cooking. Everything I make either burns or tastes like an old woman's vagina."

Gendry nearly tripped and fell flat on his face.

"You have such a way with words," he said drily, getting two cups out of the cabinet and setting them down on the bar.

"So..." she said, hopping onto a bar stool. "How are we going to do this?"

"Well, luckily for you, I _can_ cook," Gendry said, putting tea bags in the cups and then putting a kettle on the stove. "Unlike you, I actually listen when Hot Pie talks."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Arya said, waving him off. "So what'll it be?"

"Eggs and toast?" Gendry offered. "My culinary skills only go so far."

"Eggs and toast?" She asked, wrinkling her nose. "It seems a little under dramatic, this being the morning after and all."

"What do you want me to do? Bake a stack of pancakes with pigeons flying out of them?" Gendry demanded.

"No," she said. "Eggs and toast sounds good."

"Good," Gendry said, "because that's all I know how to make."

Arya helped him by putting in the toast, and then, when the water went off, she filled both their cups and hopped back on the bar stool, watching as he prepared their eggs.

"So," she said, taking a sip of hot tea, "are you still coming to the car wash next week?"

Gendry turned around.

"I guess," he said, frowning. "But do you think it's a good idea, given, you know... What we just did? Don't you think it'll be a tad bit risky?"

"Why should it be anymore dangerous than before?" Arya asked as he scooped eggs onto her plate.

"Because," Gendry said, looking like he was trying to put his thoughts into words and failing. "Fine. Whatever. I'll go if you want me to go."

"Thanks dear," she said, shoving eggs into her mouth.

"Besides," Gendry said with a smile, "I must do as my lady commands."

"Watch yourself boy," Arya said, shaking her fork at him. "Or no sex for you."

She grinned at the look on Gendry's face.

"Now get the toast," she said.

"I'm not your bitch," he snapped, but he went to get the toast all the same.

Ooooooooooooooooo

Gendry had been right. Despite Arya scoffing at him, now it was more difficult than ever to remain normal around her in public. Or maybe it was the fact that she was wearing nothing but a black bikini that was causing him to use all his will power not to go over to her and snog her face off.

_SPLOOSH!_

"ARGHHHH!"

Arya nearly feel off the top of the car laughing as Gendry whipped around to see Rickon, her youngest brother, grinning at him, hose in hand, having just sprayed him in the face.

"Wake up dolly daydream!" He said, laughing as Gendry spat a good deal of water out of his mouth. "You're like a zombie today!"

_Really, _Gendry thought sourly as he wiped water out of his eyes, _I'll be glad when he goes off to camp again. _Actually, that really wasn't true. He liked Rickon the same as all of Arya's brothers, but still. It wasn't exactly fun having water shot in your face when you were trying very hard to concentrate on not kissing your secret girl friend.

"I didn't get much sleep last night," he grumbled, snatching the hose from Rickon, who laughed.

"Oh didn't you?" Arya asked, eye brows raised. This time, it was Gendry who sprayed her with the hose.

"I had lots of work to do, nosy," he said. "I'm finishing up my classes in a few weeks."

It was true. Besides the quick hang out session, he and Arya hadn't spent any time at his apartment since their last encounter. She had been spending more time with her family to divert suspicion and he really had been busy with school.

"Oh, right," she said, shaking her hair out of her eyes. "Hand me some more soapy towels, will you? And Rickon, get off your lazy ass and come help me."

"He's the lazy one!" Rickon protested.

"Come on," Arya said. "Gendry can be surprisingly helpful when he wants to be."

_Did she just wink? Bloody-_

"Who's ready to wash some cars?" Robb asked, bursting from the house and dressed in a pair of thoroughly ridiculous swimming shorts.

"How did you ever get married?" Arya asked, eyeing the shorts, which were a vibrant shade of clashing colors.

"I don't see you with a boyfriend, Ms. Judgmental," Robb said, pouting. Gendry shot Arya a pointed look, and she bit back a smile "And Jeyne likes my shorts, I'll have you know."

"They say love does crazy things." Arya said under her breath.

"I wouldn't know," Gendry said, hosing the soapy suds off of Ned Stark's SUV.

"Yeah me neither," she said, grinning at him again.

"Are you two making fun of me again?" Robb asked through narrowed eyes.

"No," they both said quickly, and he scowled.

"So, Rickon, how's soccer camp?" Gendry asked, continuing to wash away the soap tracks Rickon and Arya were leaving with their towels.

"Great," Rickon said.

"Excited to go back?" Gendry asked.

"Yeah," Arya's youngest brother said, but then he frowned. "It's not as cool as Bran's rock climbing camp though."

"Yeah," Arya cut in. "Get this, he's probably climbing up the face of a cliff right now!"

"Cool," Gendry said as Robb started to dry off the car.

Just then, Jon came out of the house, wearing black and looking grumpy. Gendry tried not to cringe. It seemed that the harder he tried, the deeper he dug him self in with Jon.

"Jon!" Rickon and Arya cried, both grinning.

"Shouldn't you have a shirt on?" Jon demanded, raising an eyebrow at Gendry.

"Oh come on Jon," Arya joked. "Look at him! It almost seems like a crime against nature to make him put on a shirt."

Gendry shook his head at her, trying not to laugh. _Bad idea, Arya._

"And shouldn't you be wearing a shirt as well?" Jon snapped at his younger sister. Robb sighed.

"Let's just finish up this car, all right? We can start World War III later," he said as Rickon blinked, confused, not knowing what was going on in the least.

"What was that about World War III?" Sansa asked, stepping from the house as well, wearing a soft pink bathing suit and skirt.

"Nothing," Robb, Arya, and Gendry chorused at once. Sansa raised an eyebrow.

"We were just talking about Rickon's summer camp," Arya said quickly, before Jon could say something sour. "And I was telling Gendry about Bran."

"Oh yes," Sansa said, smiling as she adjusted her floppy sun hat. "And did you hear, Gendry? Jon's been hired to be manager of a new magazine!"

"Really?" Gendry asked, grinning at Jon. Jon did not grin back.

"Yeah," Arya said quickly. "It's supper cool. It's called _Beyond the Wall_, and they're going to be traveling all over the place, taking photos and getting stories and-"

"Yes, yes," Jon said, blushing slightly. "It's all very exciting."

"And I'm going down with my parents to visit my new university," Sansa said, grinning.

"Oh really?" Gendry asked. "Where is it?"

"The Vale," Sansa said. "We're going there for a long weekend."

"Yeah," Arya said. "Poor me, I'll be all alone at Winterfell for a whole weekend, with everyone gone."

Gendry felt his heart jump.

"Yeah," he said, catching her eye. "What are you going to do with all that time on your own?"

"I dunno," she said, and there was a definite grin on her face. "I'll think of something."

**;D**

**Dunno if I can post another chapter tomorrow, but we'll see**


	21. Chapter 21

**Okay so confession time... I've been putting off this chapter. I just... I always feel like such a charlatan writing smut. I always end up feeling like the woman who wrote 50 shades of grey and I shutter to think (sorry if you like the book. No offense meant). But, anyway, I bit the bullet and here is this chapter.**

_**Summary: In which Gendry worries far too much and Arya shows him Winterfell**_

__"Hello? Gendry?"

"Which phone are you using?"

"Ummm... My house phone? Why?" Arya demanded, popping a chip in her mouth as she sat at the kitchen table.

"No! Get off it right now!"

"Why?" Arya snapped.

"Because! It might be bugged!"

She laughed.

"Don't be an idiot! Of course it's not bugged! You're getting crazy, just come over here and stop being such a pussy," Arya said, rolling her eyes.

"Come over there now? As in right now?"

"Yes right now you blithering idiot," Arya sighed, getting annoyed.

"But didn't they just leave?"

"Yes, so the coast is clear," Arya said with a loud groan.

"Shouldn't I wait at least an hour? You know, just in case they come back or something?"

"Gendry! If you don't come down here right now, you won't be allowed to come at all! You're being stupid! Just get your ass down here!"

"But-"

"NO ARGUING!" She roared, and with that, she slammed her thumb on the receiver, cutting him off. _Honestly. Who was the female in the relationship?_

It had taken a good deal of fighting to get Gendry to agree to this, believe it or not. Arya had thought he would jump at the chance to spend an entire weekend, uninterrupted and without the fear of being caught with her. The only thing was... He was afraid of getting caught.

"I swear Jon knows," he had said, looking terrified. "He mentioned something about loosing cherries..."

"Okay one; we were having cherry pie, so of course he would mention cherries, and two; Jon's going to be gone this weekend as well-"

"Do you _know_ that though? I mean, he could be lying-"

"Shut up," Arya had snapped in a hushed voice (they were at the Forge, and Yoren kept walking up to them to tell Gendry to get back to work, shooting them annoyed looks). "Jon doesn't care that much-"

"He almost took my balls off one time, thanks to you!"

"Can we just forget that?" Arya had said, annoyed. "Jon's not a problem, and neither is anyone else. I wouldn't have suggested it if I didn't think it was safe!"

"What about hidden cameras?"

There was a long, strained pause.

"Gendry..." Arya sighed, closing her eyes. "My parents are honestly not that sophisticated. Now. Shut. Up."

"Sorry," he said, sighing as well. "I'm just a little jumpy I guess, after our slip up yesterday."

Arya fought the urge to roll her eyes. In a moment of, yes, stupidity, they had forgotten themselves and kissed in the Mall the other day. But honestly, they hadn't seen anyone they knew, and if they had, well, they would have known by now.

"No one saw us," she said. "Now are you in or not?"

"I'm in," he said with a nod, looking determined. "Just... Do a quick check for cameras."

Now, Arya let out another sigh just thinking about it. Gendry's worrying was only half of the problem. First, she had to convince her parents she would be fine on her own, which had proved arduous as they were racked with a sudden, unexpected surge of guilt at leaving her. And then, when she had finally shoved them out the door, Arya had to get the house ready.

Her room had been a nightmare. For the first time in her life, Arya had wished with a fevered passion that she had Sansa's room, all neat and tidy. All those times when she had joked about testing the laws of gravity seemed to be mocking her now. Why couldn't she have had the decency to put her dirty clothes in her hamper?

Then, when that was done, she had to do all the dishes, and make sure there was frozen pizza left in the fridge, and enough food to tie them over for the weekend, and then decided to wash the dishes in the sink for good measure. And then there was the covering up of embarrassing things to consider. Like the entries she may or may not have made about Gendry when she was fourteen in her diary. Honestly, as soon as he left, that thing was going to be burned.

There was a scraping sound outside, and, concerned, she leaped from her seat at the kitchen table and raced to the window... And groaned. Outside, it appeared that Gendry was trying to drag his motorcycle into the underbrush alongside her driveway.

"Stop!" She shouted, running outside. "Stop!"

"I'm hiding my motorcycle so no one will see-"

"Yes, I know what you're attempting to do, you idiot," she said harshly, crossing her arms over her chest. Just put it in the garage."

"But-"

"Gendry," Arya said through gritted teeth. "Put. It. In. The. Garage."

Gendry had the good grace to look appropriately embarrassed, heeding her and putting his motorcycle in the garage before following her as she stalked towards the house.

"Shall we go in together? Or maybe I'll go in before and you'll follow so as not to-"

"Okay, okay," Gendry cut across her, frowning. "I get it. I've been overreacting."

"You're just getting that now?" She snapped, raising an eyebrow. Gendry raised an eyebrow of his own.

"Let's not spoil the weekend," he said, side stepping her into the house. "Where should I put this?"

He shook his duffle bag at her.

"Oh," she said, blushing slightly. "My room, I guess."

Gendry smiled at her.

"I never did get to see your room," he said.

"Yeah, because Jon would have really gone for that," Arya said sarcastically as she lead him up the stairs. "You, me, with a bed, alone? What more could he ask for?"

"I dunno," Gendry said. "It sounds like the stuff of his dreams. Or nightmares."

Arya laughed, and then, after a moments, pause, pushed open the door to her room.

At once she felt embarrassed. It wasn't at all like Gendry's room, which was simple, with very few posters or trinkets, much like himself. In his room, there were a few things that he had made out of metal in his wood shop class, and a framed picture of the two of them, a dresser, a bedside table and a bed. That was it.

Arya's room, on the other hand, was loaded with stuff. Posters of her favorite fencers and historical figures and bands peppered the walls, as well as all sorts of things she had collected over the years that she just couldn't throw away, like Needle, Jon's knife, amongst other things. And there was a significantly larger population of pictures with her and Gendry on her dresser than there was on his.

"Is that us at prom?" Gendry asked, grinning. Arya blushed.

"Uhh... Yeah. And Sansa. And Margaery."

"Did you give Joffrey a Hitler mustache?" He asked, laughing.

"And a unibrow, and several very unflattering moles. Oh! And I blacked out half of his teeth!" Arya said proudly, coming over to look with him.

"I like this picture," Gendry said. "You look beautiful."

She blushed.

"And who knew how you could transform with the simple use of some soap?" Arya said, nudging him in the ribs.

"Hey, I bathe," Gendry snapped.

"Not often enough, I think," Arya said, taking his duffle bag and setting it at the foot of his bed.

"Was that an invitation?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

Arya tripped over his duffle bag and grabbed the bed for support, effectively wrenching all the covers off as she tumbled to the ground. _So much for making the bed_, she thought grumpily.

"No!" She shouted, her voice muffled by her comforter. "No!"

"I wouldn't have minded if it was," he said amiably, laughing as he helped her untangle herself from the sheets. "But maybe it is a little early in the day."

Arya was so red in the face she probably looked like she had a bad sunburn.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to this," she admitted.

"To what?" Gendry asked. "Sexual innuendoes? I dunno, I think you have no problem when you're the one making them."

"I'm not a fan of sneak attacks," Arya said thoughtfully.

"Well," Gendry teased, his eyes dancing, "next time I make a sexual reference, I'll warn you."

"Haha," Arya said drily, standing up. "So..."

"So..." Gendry echoed, letting all the air out of his lungs awkwardly.

"We could... Erm... I could finish my archery lesson!" Arya supplied, but to her surprise, Gendry shook his head. "Why not?"

"Last time, I nearly snogged your face off, and now that we've... You know... I don't trust myself not to snog your face off, among other things... And you have neighbors," he said, turning redder with every word. Arya raised her eyebrows, laughing.

"Seriously?" She said.

"We could stay here," Gendry said, shooting her an annoyed look. "I like your room. And there are a good amount of pictures of me in here. How did you get away with this? I would have thought Jon would have burned them all by now."

"Oh ha ha," Arya said sarcastically. "He's not _that_ crazy you know."

"No, he just looks like he wants to murder me every time he sees me."

"Not murder! Maybe severely harm-"

"Point made," Gendry said, looking at the pictures. "Hey! That's a picture of the sticker I gave you!"

"Yeah," Arya said, feeling her cheeks heat up. "And there's you and me, when I won the fencing trophy."

"Oh yeah! I remember that! You were so proud of yourself, when I took you out for ice cream afterwards, you wouldn't stop flashing it around to random strangers-"

"I did not-"

"Arya, you wouldn't let it go for days. I have a sinking suspicion you slept with it..." Gendry said, laughing.

"Only once..."

"Aha! Knew it!"

"I had worked really hard for that trophy," Arya said with a frown. "I was really happy about it."

He ignored her.

"And here's my wolf necklace!" Gendry said, gently picking it up. "You wore it, that night, didn't you? The night where we... Our first night."

"I didn't think you noticed," Arya said, blushing.

"Of course I noticed," Gendry said, looking slightly insulted. "Just because I was preoccupied with other things..."

They both caught each others eye and jumped, as though they had been caught in some sort of crime.

"This is stupid," Arya said. "Us acting so jumpy around each other. All we did was have sex."

Gendry flinched, and then looked ashamed of himself.

"Yeah," he agreed. "Guess there's only one way to fix it."

"And what's that-"

Her question was answered as he closed the gap between them and kissed her, pulling her to him and wrapping his arms around her.

"It's really hot in here," Arya said, pulling back. "Do you want to go for a swim?"

"See what I said about the innuendo thing?" Gendry said, looking breathless. "You have absolutely no problem doing it."

Arya grinned.

"I never said I did."

Oooooooooooooooooo

There was no denying it. The Starks had a top notch pool. The kind Gendry had always dreamed his Dad owned when he was a little kid. Just standing here, staring at the clear blue water, reminded him of all the daydreams he used to have. That maybe, one day, his Dad would come and take him and his Mum to paradise.

His reverie, however, was very abruptly ended as Arya wriggled her t-shirt over her head and threw it on the ground and then proceeded to unbutton her shorts, shimmying out of those as well. Shrugging, Gendry followed suit, pulling his shirt over his head, but when the cloth had been pulled off his head, his jaw nearly hit the ground.

Arya had also decided to take off her bra, and then, throwing a suspiciously minxy glance at him, she pulled off her underwear as well.

Gendry gulped, trying to ignore how suddenly tight his pants had become.

She gave him a wicked grin and then ran and leapt in the hair, curling into a ball before she plummeted into the water, causing a huge splash.

He didn't waste anymore time. By the time she resurfaced, he had the rest of his clothes off, and she turned around, looking him up and down and then grinning again.

Without any warning, he barreled at her, leaping into the air and then dropping in a ball, sending her flying with his tremendous splash.

"You jerk!" She shouted when he resurfaced, but he only laughed, grabbing her and then kissing her, pressing her wet body against his and sighing as she sucked gently on his lower lip, her fingers running over his wet shoulders and neck and hair.

They kissed underwater too, for the fun of it, and half laughed, half swore after they knocked heads. And then Gendry tried to catch Arya, who was a far better swimmer than he was, darting away as he lumbered through the water, tripping and flopping and sending waves rolling as she laughed, always out of reach.

Finally, he caught her, and when he did, he crashed his lips to hers. It seemed like their games would be over from that point on, because all Gendry could think of was that, for someone with such little experience, Arya was an extraordinarily fast learner, kissing him and pressing her body against his in all the right places. It was enough to drive him mad. Hell, it _was_ driving him mad.

"Arya," he groaned into her mouth. "I want... I want..."

"Not in the pool," she said hurriedly. "No messes in the pool."

"Fine," Gendry shrugged, and then, without warning, he lifted her up out of the water and carried her out of the pool. Smirking at her, he flipped her around and flopped her over his shoulder, causing her to give a hiss of annoyance and probably roll her eyes.

Trying to remember where her room was, was a bit of a tough one (Winterfell was _huge_), but Arya guided him, sounding very amused as she did. After what seemed like an age, they finally burst into her room, Arya already wriggling out of his arms and then grabbing his hand, pulling him towards her and then pushing him on the bed.

He barely had a moment to breathe before she crawled on top of him, trailing kisses from dangerously close to his cock up to his chest, and then to the hollow of his neck, and then his jaw, causing him to shiver as she brushed her lips over his before kissing him deeply. Her hands, planted on his chest, snaked up to either side of his head as she brushed her breasts against his chest, causing him to shiver again.

"Are you trying to seduce me?" he croaked out stupidly.

"Why? Is it working?" she asked, and he could tell that she was teasing him.

"Yes."

Not to be put into submission so easily, Gendry grabbed the back of her head and kissed her hard, slinking his tongue in her mouth and pressing her body to his, jerking his hips upwards and hearing her half sigh, half moan into his mouth.

One of her hands snaked down and started working him, causing him to gasp, pulling back slightly, to see her looking smug. Which really wouldn't do. At all.

He lifted her up, sitting up slightly as well, and dipped his head to her breasts, feeling a glowing self-satisfaction as she murmured in appreciation, the other one of her hands threading through his hair, egging him on.

Unable to bare much more of this, Gendry jerked his hips slightly, pushing at her. Arya seemed to understand, lifting her hand from him to not-so-gently prod him back down on the bed. Positioning herself, Gendry noticed that she had that determined look on her face, the one she always got before a match, as she placed her hand back on him, guiding him to the right place, and then, pursing her lips, she lowered herself onto him, shuttering slightly.

"Give me a moment," she said, eyes closed.

"Okay," was all he could manage to say pathetically, trying very hard not to think about how absolutely fucking brilliant this-_fuck!_

She had started to move, tentatively and unsure, looking slightly embarrassed, but fiercely determined non-the-less and she rocked back and forth on him gently, her eyes fluttering closed and a smile creeping onto her face.

Unable to bare the slowness of the pace, Gendry began to move his hips against her, causing her to gasp and chuckle slightly as she increased her pace, but not by much.

Getting up on his elbows, Gendry beckoned her forward and kissed her breasts before she pushed him back on the bed again, holding him down as she began to ride him faster and faster, her breath coming in short, pleasured gasps.

Gendry could feel himself close to coming and grabbed her hips, thrusting into her and exclaiming in pleasure when he did. Her gasps were growing more and more louder and faster, and he could tell that she was getting close as well. As they buckled and rocked, he reached up and circled his thumb over her breast, and then felt her hand on his, holding him there as she clenched around him, softly crying out as her climax took hold of her. The cry was enough to send him over the edge as well, and he came, much more louder than she had.

Arya gasped for breath, and then rolled off of him, laughing.

"That... That was good," she said, closing her eyes.

"Good?" Gendry sputtered. "Good?"

"It was all right," she said, shrugging. She was teasing him.

"You little bitch," he said, grabbing her and causing her to squeal as he pinned her down, flipping her so that she faced him and then giving her a long and hard kiss. "That was bloody fantastic and you know it."

"I've had better," she said, laughing.

"Liar."

"Yeah, well, our last time wasn't so bad. Provided I couldn't walk properly afterwards..."

"So," Gendry said, kissing her forehead, "is this going to be the whole weekend? Just us? Fucking?"

"Pretty much," Arya said. "I thought we might stop for at least five minutes or so, to eat."

"Two at the most," Gendry teased, and then he pulled her close, kissing her again and sighing. It was a perfect weekend.

**I have no clue when the next chapter will be out! I have a busy weekend so we'll see**


	22. Chapter 22

**This is a full Arya POV chapter, just a note**

_**Summary: In which Sansa makes a regrettable mistake.**_

"I should go."

"It's five in the morning," Arya groaned, rolling over to look at the clock through sleepy eyes and then rolling back into Gendry's arms.

"I know," he said. "But you're parents said they'd be back early, and weren't you the one that said it would be better to be safe rather than sorry?"

Arya let out a sigh, running the back of her hand over his chest in a half-asleep state. She didn't want him to go. It had been so lovely, having a whole weekend of him to herself. Just... Them. No one else, no interruptions. Nothing.

"I suppose," she relented softly, burrowing into him, as if trying to savor these last few seconds before he left.

"Don't worry, I'll see you next Monday," he said, planting a kiss on her forehead. She sighed.

"Yeah but that's like a week away," she grumbled, lacing her fingers with his.

"Don't be such a sour puss," Gendry teased. "We had a lovely weekend. I don't want it ruined by your Dad coming in and murdering me."

"You're probably right," Arya admitted with another sigh.

"I am right," he said, kissing her again before he rolled away, the loss of his body and heat bringing if a puff of coldness. Arya watched as he sat up, running a hand over his unshaven face before getting up and picking up his clothes that were scattered all about her room.

"Thanks... You know, for coming over," Arya said softly. Gendry laughed.

"Yeah, it was really difficult for me," he said sarcastically. "It's not like I lived my dream or anything."

"It was nice, wasn't it?" Arya sighed, stretching and then curling into a ball, her comforter fluffy around her shoulders.

"It was great," he said, finishing up dressing and then coming over to give her a quick kiss. "I'll see you soon, all right?"

"All right," she said, "I lo-"

Arya froze, horrified. It was one of those automatic things, saying 'I love you' when a person was leaving, but now, given the circumstances, what would Gendry have thought if she said it? It was far too soon, wasn't it? And what if he didn't feel the same way? Did she even feel that way, that she loved him?

"Arya?" Gendry asked, frowning. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she said, shaking her head slightly. "Yeah sorry, I just fell asleep mid-sentence. Sorry."

"S'all right," Gendry said, kissing her again. "I'll call you."

"Or text," Arya said sleepily. "It doesn't matter, I'll reply either way."

And with that he was gone, leaving her to stare after him, wondering.

Ooooooooooooooooo

"Arya?"

Arya sighed, deciding that right now, she just wanted to ignore Sansa. She had been particularly annoying as of late, with her going off to university soon and all. That was all she ever talked about. University this, and university that. It was enough to drive Arya mad.

Or... Maybe it wasn't Sansa. Arya, truth be told, was a bit let down by the amount of time she had spent with Gendry since their weekend together, which had been not at all. They had had to cancel Monday when Yoren called Gendry into work, and then, after that, they just couldn't seem to find a day, or a section of a day, where both of them were free.

"Arya?" Sansa, it appeared, was not to be ignored. Out of the corner of her eye, Arya saw Sansa standing in the frame of her doorway, holding something in her hand. "What's this?"

Arya turned up, disinterested, and then felt her heart drop.

"How should I know?" Arya scoffed, trying not to hyperventilate. "It's not mine."

"Well, it's not mine," Sansa snapped. "And it's certainly not Mom's."

"Well, seeing as I'm not having sex, it must be Mom's," Arya lied, but her heart was beating a million miles a minute and her palms began to sweat.

"Arya, Mom can't have kids anymore, you know that," Sansa snapped. "Nor does she use our bathroom, which is where I found this. She has no use for a pregnancy test."

Arya cringed internally. It had been a false alarm, when she was a few days late for her previous period, and had decided just to check to make sure nothing was up. Luckily for Arya, nothing had been up, but, not so luckily for her, Sansa had found the test.

"Well I don't know," Arya said, throwing Sansa off. "What were you doing anyway? Going through the trash?"

"How did you know I found it in the trash?" Sansa demanded, eyes narrowed.

"Because where else would it be?" Arya said, rolling her eyes, even though her hands were shaking slightly. _Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit._

"Arya... Are you not telling me something?" Sansa said, looking angry. "Are you having sex?"

Arya cringed, this time externally.

"Oh my god!" Sansa shrieked. "WHO! WHO? Arya, who are you sleeping with?"

"I'm not sleeping with anyone!" Arya protested, but Sansa would not be fooled.

"Arya!" She screeched. "Arya! Who are you having sex with? Tell me right now!"

"No!" Arya shouted back. "And keep your voice down!"

"Oh my god," Sansa said, looking ashy. "Oh my god. Oh my god."

"Will you shut up? I'm still a virgin!"

"Who?" Sansa demanded, not to be put off. "Who could you possibly have slept with? The only boy I've ever seen you with is Gendry-Oh. My. God."

"What?" Arya demanded.

"You're having sex with him!" Sansa said, looking faint. "You're having sex with Gendry!"

"Will you be quiet?" Arya hissed. "It's not like that!"

"It's not like what?" Sansa demanded loudly.

"It's not just sex!" Arya snapped. "It's a relationship! We have a relationship! We go on dates and-

"Who? Who do you go on dates with?"

Sansa's face turned white with horror and Arya gasped out loud, ready to kill her. But even as Arya was shooting daggers at Sansa, beating her to a pulp in her mind, Sansa was mouthing apologies, looking truly and utterly horrified.

"Arya," Ned Stark said, standing in the doorway, looking very frightening, "who are you dating?"

"No one," Sansa said quickly, and Arya mentally cursed her again. "Dad, it's nothing. We were just fooling around."

Arya tried not to pound her head into the wall.

Honestly, Sansa was the worst liar she had ever seen. If their Dad hadn't thought anything was up before, he certainly did now. However, despite Arya's fury at her older sister for getting her caught, she could see that Sansa looked truly wretched. She might have wanted to give Arya a piece of her mind, but it was evident that Sansa had no intention of telling their parents about it. Once more, the pregnancy test had mysteriously disappeared from view, something Arya could at least be grateful for.

"No, it's not nothing," Ned said darkly, coming in the room. "Arya, is there something you want to tell me?"

"No," Arya said, trying not to let her voice quiver. "Like Sansa said, it was nothing. We were just fooling around."

"Are you lying to me Arya?" Ned demanded, his face hard and stony. Arya felt her heartbeat in her ears.

"No," she said, but her voice cracked under the strain.

"Arya Stark," Ned said harshly, "you will stop lying to me this instant and tell me who it is that you are seeing."

Arya felt her knees shaking, but she stood firm.

"Arya," Ned said, stepping closer, his eyes boring into her, and it was obvious that he was getting very angry, "you tell me this instant or I'll have to ask Sansa."

Arya felt her throat go dry. Sansa, despite the fact that she looked genuinely apologetic, would probably spill the beans sooner or later, and it would sound all the worse coming from her than it would from Arya. Like it or not, she was trapped.

"Arya..." Ned said through gritted teeth, and Sansa threw a regretful look at Arya, as if begging her not to force her to betray her.

Arya sighed. There was no way out.

She cleared her throat, balling up all her courage in her fists.

"Gendry," she said quietly. "Gendry Waters.


	23. Chapter 23

**Oh shit's about to hit the fan. I'm posting it on the same day as the other chapter just because I wrote it and I feel like it, and technically it's 1 am in the morning, so it's the next day. I do what I want.**

_**Summary: In which Gendry is shocked by a surprise visit from Arya**_

"How could you?"

It was worse than her nightmares.

Every bad thing that Arya had ever thought could possibly happen, seemed to happen. Ned yelled. Catelyn cried. Jon had to be restrained. Sansa slinked off into her room, looking upset, leaving Arya to sit in the living room while her parents sat her down and gave her a proper talking to. A talking to that lasted hours.

Never before had Arya ever argued so fiercely with her parents. She had never been the source of such anger and disappointment and betrayal. It was as if all her parents repressed fury was suddenly unleashing itself on her in a great, uncontrollable surge.

"What could you have been thinking?" Catelyn asked, looking exhausted. "Arya, I don't understand how you could have used such poor judgement."

"It's really not as bad as it seems," Arya protested feebly. "Mom, Gendry and I... It's not about age, really it isn't. He doesn't have this weird thing for younger girls-"

"Oh I think it's exactly as bad as it seems," Ned snapped, pacing back and forth, looking furious.

"Dad don't be unreasonable-"

"UNREASONABLE?" Ned Stark bellowed, turning to face her. "UNREASONABLE? YOU'RE LUCKY I DON'T PRESS CHARGES!"

"Dad!" Arya shouted, leaping to her feet.

"Arya, how could you use such poor judgement?" Catelyn said, again. "And Gendry as well? He's an adult! He should know better! Don't you know how badly this could go for him? He could get into serious trouble!"

"Yeah but he won't, right Dad?" Arya said desperately. Ned looked like he wanted to break something. "Dad?"

"I won't file charges if you break up with him this instant," Ned snarled, looking so tremendously unforgiving that Arya knew what he threatened was real.

"I won't break up with him!" Arya shouted angrily. "Dad, we're in a relationship, and it's real-"

"I DON'T CARE IF IT'S A BLOODY FANTASY! I WANT YOU TO END IT! NOW!" Ned roared.

"Ned!" Catelyn said reproachfully.

Arya and Ned glared at each other.

"Arya," Catelyn said, "please think about this."

"I am thinking about this," Arya said, blinking back tears of frustration. "I have thought about it. A very long time. It's you that needs to do the thinking!"

Ned balled his hand into a fist, looking like he was trying very hard not to yell obscenities.

"Arya, how could you be so selfish?"

Arya whipped around to see Jon, who appeared to have calmed down quite a bit from his yelling rampage earlier. Now he just looked defeated, and... And extremely disappointed. The look on his face shot ice through her heart, her guilt at the betrayal there making her almost tearful.

She couldn't speak, because she couldn't answer. Angry Jon she could handle, but disappointed Jon? Betrayed Jon? It was something that was so foreign to her that she found herself unable to form words.

"You know what this is going to cost Gendry? His job, and probably the possibility for a job in the future, and much more than that. It could go on his permanent record," Jon said softly, coming into the room.

"Not if Dad doesn't press charges," Arya said in a small voice.

"If he doesn't, Robert Baratheon will," Jon said grimly. "I just got off the phone with him. He's furious."

"You told him?" Arya screeched, unable to believe that Jon would do such a thing.

"No," Jon said honestly. "It was Joeffry."

"Joeffry?" Arya gasped in disbelief. "But how-"

"Apparently he had a picture of you two kissing, in the mall," Jon said, looking disgusted at the very thought. Arya cursed herself internally. Gendry had been right to worry. Apparently there was someone there, lurking in the shadows. The little prick!

"Robert's really angry," Jon continued. "He's threatening to have Gendry fired himself, and to press charges if Dad doesn't."

"But why?" Arya all but cried. "When he was always making sexual jokes about me and Gendry? And he has sex with, like, everyone, all the time! Who is he to talk?"

Jon shrugged.

"You know Jeoffry," he said, looking surprisingly apologetic. "He can make anything look worse than it is."

Arya felt stricken.

"Arya," Jon said softly. "You know you have to end this."

Arya could feel tears bubbling at her eyes and then hastily brushed them away, her face growing hot.

"No," she said in a quivering voice.

"Arya, please," Catelyn pressed softly. "If not for yourself, than for him! Don't let this get more out of hand than it is."

Arya took a deep, shuttering breath. In that moment, she wanted to cry out, 'but I love him!' but also, in that moment, she knew that even though she wanted to, she couldn't. It would just make things worse. They already didn't understand, and she could only imagine the uproar and anger that would ensue if she confessed.

"I... I..." she said, tears beginning to spill from her eyes. "He's my best friend! I can't lose him!"

"Then do it because he's your best friend!" Jon said. "If you don't break it off now, you _will_ lose him. Gendry's not a bad person, he's just used poor judgement, but even though I understand that, other people will not."

Arya sat down, depression starting to set in. There was no alternative. There was no bright side. How could she have been so stupid?

"I won't," she said again, but this time it was feeble and empty.

"I'm really disappointed in you, Arya," Jon said softly. "I thought you had better judgement than this."

And with that he left, shuffling out of the room and leaving a roaring silence in his wake. Arya squeezed her eyes shut, tears spilling out.

"It's only because we want what's best for you," Catelyn said earnestly, laying a hand on Arya's knee. "And this is not it."

Arya pushed her hand off and leapt to her feet, glaring at both her parents through puffy eyes.

"I'll do it," she spat. "Only because it will save Gendry, but I'll not do it for you, and I don't want to hear how happy you are about it, or your excuses. I'll do it, but I never want to talk about it again."

She spun on her heel and ran from the room, tears pouring out of her eyes as she went, head bowed and hand wiping the water away under her eyes, trying to mop up the tiny rivers on her face. Slamming the door behind her, she collapsed on the bed and grabbed her box of Kleenex, drying away the tears.

As she sat there, sniffing, gazing at all the pictures on her desk, cold, hard reason began to sink in. With a sort of crippling finality she knew that if she went to Gendry and told him the truth, that her parents found out, he would never have it. He would be stupidly determined that he could bring them around, refusing to break up. He's go to his Dad, he'd try to talk to Ned, and Jon and Catelyn, but he'd only make it worse. And he wouldn't see the reality of it all, how they just couldn't go on. Not now, not ever. That he would lose everything in the end, including her. If Gendry was one thing, it was stubborn, and he wouldn't give up. Not unless he thought that giving up was what she wanted.

Arya sat there, ripping a Kleenex thoughtlessly, her mind numb, her feelings numb, and knew what she had to do.

And as she got up, as if in a daze, and started taking down all the pictures of her and Gendry, it became more and more clear.

She had to lie.

Oooooooooooooooo

Gendry smiled, staring up at the underside of a car as he let his mind wander, like it always seemed to do these days, back to Arya.

Though they hadn't seen each other since their weekend together, he couldn't help but feel elated just thinking about her. Every time he did, he would grin like an idiot, and more than once Yoren had made a side comment about him looking like a mental patient, but he didn't care. When he was younger, he'd always made fun of all the loony sappy couples he saw. He remembered snickering with Arya while watching Robb and Jeyne as they nuzzled noses and whispered secrets in each others ears. And now he was acting just like them.

He just had such a good feeling about that weekend, and about his relationship with Arya in general. Things were looking up for him. Yoren was talking about a promotion, and he had done well in his exams for the classes he had been taking, and on top of that there was Arya.

He had decided, a few nights ago, in a fit of romantic bravery, that he would tell Arya the next time they went on a date that he loved her. It sounded stupid, just to think about it, because... Well wasn't it obvious? But girls, even Arya, really liked that sort of thing, and though he felt it, it didn't hurt to say it out loud, and she obviously felt the same way, so what was stopping him? Absolutely nothing.

"OI! YOU! BOY!"

Gendry pushed himself out from under the car to see Yoren glaring his usual friendly glare.

"Are you fucking deaf? Your phone has been ringing for ages!"

"I might be, with how loud you play this music," Gendry grumbled, pulling himself up and snatching his phone. It was Arya.

"Hey," he said happily, picking up. "Hold on a moment! I can't hear you over the racket! Let me go outside!"

He practically ran to the parking lot, ignoring Yoren's not-so-quiet insults.

"What's up?"

There was a long pause, and for a moment Gendry thought he had lost her, or the call had been dropped.

"I need to talk to you," she said, and it might have been the connection, but her voice sounded strange.

"Is everything all right?" Gendry asked, concerned. "Is everyone okay?"

"Everyone's fine," Arya said curtly. "I just need to talk to you. Now."

"Well, I'm at work," Gendry said, frowning, confused.

"I'll go there then," Arya said, and the more he talked to her, the more she didn't sound like herself.

"Are you okay?" Gendry asked. "You sound strange."

"I'm fine," Arya snapped, and he was surprised by her harshness. Had he done something to offend her? "I just really need to talk to you. I'm on my way, I'll be there in ten minutes."

And with that, she hung up. Gendry stared at his phone, blinking, his happy mood melting in his chest. Suddenly, he didn't feel so good about everything anymore. But that was silly, Arya never lied. She was probably fine.

Or what if she wasn't fine? What if she was pregnant? Or in some sort of trouble? Gendry felt anxiety burst within him. What would he do if she was? _You'd stand by her, you dip shit_, he thought to himself. _Didn't you say five seconds ago that you loved her?_

He took several deep breaths and shook his head. It was probably nothing. She was probably fine. He was just overreacting again.

"Yoren!" He said, walking back into the Forge. "I'm going to finish up and then take my lunch break, all right?"

Yoren just made a weird grumbling noise.

"I'll take that as a yes," Gendry said under his breath, pulling himself back under the car. Even as he worked, he couldn't help but feel a bubble of fear growing in his chest. No amount of brushing it off would make it leave either. It was entirely irrational, and yet...

"Arya's here!" Yoren shouted.

Gendry felt his heart lurch unexpectedly. Gulping, and swallowing his anxiety, he pushed himself out from under the car and brushed himself off, walking to where her car was parked.

It didn't help the sick feeling in his stomach when she didn't look up, or acknowledge his presence.

"Hey," he said, trying for a smile.

"Get in," she said, her expression curiously blank. Stomach churning, he did as he was told.

"What's going on?" Gendry asked, closing the door behind him. "What's wrong? Did something happen to you? Did someone hurt you?"

"No," Arya said, sounding annoyed. "I just..."

"You just...?" Gendry prodded, feeling the suspense pound in his ears.

"I think we need to take a break."

Gendry felt a searing pain of shock hit him, straight in his chest, leaving his blood burning cold and his lungs without air. He could only gape in utter shock, breathless, staring at her as she looked at him, her expression unreadable.

"Are you..." His voice was quivering. "Arya... Are you braking up with me?"

She looked down and sighed.

"Yeah," she said softly. "Yeah, I guess I am."

And just like that, it all shattered. His happiness, which had been building for the past few months, crashed away in an instant, leaving him empty and grasping, unable to fill the huge void that was growing in his chest.

"Why?" He gasped. "Why? I thought... I thought we were happy!"

"We were," she said. "For a time, I guess. But..."

There was a long, excruciating pause.

"I met someone else."

Gendry had thought it was not possible to feel worse. He was wrong.

"Who?" He demanded. "Arya, who?"

"Edric Dayne," she, unable to look at him. "I ran into him on Monday, when we were supposed to hang out, and... We have a lot in common, actually. And he's more age appropriate, and he's smart, too, and comes from a good family."

Each word was a stab. White hot, seeping with blood, so painful it felt like he'd never breathe again.

"Arya please," he said, his throat thick. "Please don't do this. I love you."

She jerked up, and for the first time he saw an emotion flicker across her face. Regret. She felt sorry for him. It hurt more than any blow he had ever received.

"Then I'm really sorry," she said, the mask back on. "But I don't feel the same way."

"So what was I to you then? Just sex?" Gendry snarled.

"No," Arya said, and again she looked sad. "I really care about you Gendry, I do. I just... I don't think I feel the same way about you as you feel about me."

He couldn't speak. If he spoke, he might cry. And he would not, he could not, cry in front of Arya Stark. Not after she basically confessed to him that she thought he was worthless. Not now, and not ever.

"I hope we can still be friends."

Gendry looked up, sure that she was joking. A sick, cruel joke, but a joke non-the-less. And he saw that he was right. Even though she wore an expression of hopeful regret, he saw in her eyes that she knew they would never be friends again.

"I don't think that's possible," Gendry said, anger and hurt bubbling within him. "I'll never trust you again."

"I didn't cheat on you," Arya said, frowning.

"No, but you lied to me," Gendry spat. "You made me feel like you felt the same way as I did, and that's unforgivable."

"When?" Arya demanded, looking suddenly angry. "When did I lie to you? The answer is never! You were just too stupid to see what was right in front of your face!"

Gendry wrenched open the door and ripped himself from the car, slamming the door with all the force he could muster and then charging away, all his emotions raging within him in an uncontrollable battle.

He didn't look back, but if he had, he would have seen that Arya Stark was no stone. He would have seen that, despite the fact that she had appeared so in control, she was not. He would have seen that her head was bent over, shaking in silent sobs.

He would have seen that she was crying.

**Ahhh I feel like I'm going to get a lot of unhappiness for this =( but I've planned this from the very beginning, so this was really the way it was always going to go. I have to warn you, in chapters to come, there is going to be more angst than humor. But please don't despair! I really think there is enough tragedy in asoiaf as there is, and I really do want my characters to be happy in the end, so please don't give up on me**


	24. Chapter 24

**I know it's not really how all of you wanted it to go, but, to be realistic, did you really think that Ned and everyone else was going to be like, "oh yay! You're dating a 22-year-old man!"? I got some rare free time today, so I wrote out this chapter, which was a nice change from staying up until 1 am in the morning, which I'll probably end up doing for the next chapter anyway. Ehh, whatever. I've really enjoyed writing this, and all your lovely reviews make it that much more enjoyable!**

_**Summary: In which Hot Pie pays Arya a visit and Ned has a change of heart**_

Winter came early that year.

A few weeks after Arya came home from the Forge, her head bent down and her make-up smudged, the cold winds blew in and took summer with them. The warmth that had hung in the air vanished, replaced by cold chills and frost covered grass. And then the snow came, alarmingly early, covering everything in a pale, empty white, draining all the color and vibrance of summer away.

"It's really weird," Sansa had said, before the snow had set in, as she packed up for university, folding her clothes neatly. Arya didn't respond, she merely gazed out the window at the darkened world, the clouds washed over the sky in a deep, wary grey. It would rain soon, she thought. "Winter has never come this early. And it's going to be a long one too. I can feel it."

Arya picked a bit of white paint off of Sansa's window sill. It flaked off, taking a bit of her nail polish with it.

"Arya?"

Arya looked up at Sansa, who was giving her a concerned look. Everyone had been giving her concerned looks lately, but at least they had stopped trying to talk to her about it. For the first few days, they had all been at her, trying to pull her out of her funk, to raise her spirits, to do anything, but Arya would have none of it. As soon as they so much as uttered a single word, she would be out of the room, or out of the house, away from all their false promises that this was for the best, that she would feel better, that talking about it was a good idea. It was all bullshit.

"So," Sansa said awkwardly. "It's going to be weird, leaving home. I haven't left Winterfell since we went a stayed at King's Landing, do you remember? When Dad first got the job and Joffrey and I started to get together?"

Arya did remember. That was around the time when she had met Gendry.

"But Aunt Lysa lives down in the Vale, and she'll sort me out if I need her too, even if she is a bit odd," Sansa prattled on, as if she couldn't bare the silence. Then again, she probably couldn't. Arya was sort of getting used to one-way conversations. "And it'll be nice, you know? To get away for a little bit. Find out who I really am, especially since I broke up with Joffrey. To be out on my own."

Arya picked at the window again as rain drops began to splatter across the glass. She had been right. It had looked like rain.

"You can come down and visit if you like," Sansa offered. "I bet my roommate wouldn't mind. You could bring a sleeping bag and sleep on the floor, or we could try to share the bed, though I doubt that'd work, to be honest. The dorm rooms are tiny."

Another flake of paint came free, and Arya felt a sharp pinch as a splinter of wood bit into her thumb. She let out an involuntary hiss of pain and brought her thumb up sharply, inspecting the tiny wound.

"Arya! What are you doing?" Sansa gasped, rushing towards her and snatching her hand. "Have you been picking paint off my window sill? Ugh, Arya! Now it'll have to be repainted!"

"I got it," Arya snapped, wrenching her hand away from Sansa's grasp and leaving her sister there to look regretfully after her.

It didn't matter how sorry Sansa felt about the whole thing. She left soon anyway, in a fit of simpering tears and goodbye hugs, making Arya promise almost a thousand times to call her every day. The promises were empty. Arya never called, and for a time Sansa called, but then, she started calling less and less, and soon it was not at all.

School started again, and if Arya's parents had hoped that that would lift her spirits, they had been woefully mistaken. They tried asking her questions about her day at the dinner table, but Arya hardly remembered what happened during the time she rotated from one desk to another, and the things she did remember were not worth rehashing.

The school counselor had called her in a few times, on the bequest of her teachers, and, Arya had a dull suspicion, her parents.

"The concern has been risen that you're depressed," the counselor had said, glaring at Arya through her purple glasses. Arya stared at her.

"Yeah," she said. "That's because I am."

The counselor wrote something down on her computer and then sighed, giving Arya another annoyed look.

"Your grades have taken a significant drop, and your teachers say there's a serious lack of participation from you in their classes," she said. "I also hear there have been concerns at home as well."

Arya picked the nail polish off her nails.

"We just want what's best for you-"

But the counselors false statement of empathy was cut off as Arya stood abruptly and left, leaving the large and fairly unattractive woman to squawk after her. After that, Arya ditched school more than she attended.

Her parents, in an effort to battle her worsening state, attempted to provide a united front, using their force of parental power to convince her that they were there for her. But that failed too, because Stag Industries hit a bit of a financial crisis, and on top of that, it looked like Robert and his wife Cersei were facing a divorce, one that would cost him millions because Stag Industries was practically made of Lannister money.

As a result, Ned was forced to spend most of his time in King's Landing, trying to sort everything out. Alone, Arya's mother was practically helpless. They had never understood each other, or been very close, and though Catelyn tried her best, Arya remained unreachable.

To make matters worse, her brothers seemed to melt away from her life as well. Rickon was too young to really care about the whole Gendry thing, and Bran had been absent during the entire summer, and had missed most of what had happened, and so was very unsympathetic about the whole thing.

"Thank god you broke up with him," he had said heartlessly. "Really, Arya, that's just weird."

And from then on, they didn't really speak about it, which was to say, they really didn't speak at all. Which was what happened with Robb and Jon as well.

Robb was slightly more forgiving than Jon had been. He, at least, didn't threaten to rip Gendry's balls off, but he had looked incredibly disappointed in Arya, and admitted he felt a betrayal of trust from Gendry, who had apparently promised do to exactly the opposite of what they had done. He might have talked Arya around, had it not been for the fact that Jeyne had her baby, and subsequently the entire world outside their child did not exist.

Jon, on the other hand, found his career taking off. As manager of _Beyond the Wall, _as well as a photographer, he was constantly flying to exotic, freezing places, like Iceland and the Himalayas. Unlike Robb, he not only felt betrayed by Gendry, but Arya as well. The pain of loosing Jon as well as Gendry had been sharp, and Arya couldn't help but feel incredibly isolated.

She had never felt so alone. It wasn't just that she had lost her boyfriend, or the guy she loved, or anything of that. She had lost her best friend. The person who she could confide nearly anything too. The person who, when everyone else was leaving, was there. Gendry had never failed to show up for her. He had always been there for her.

And now he wasn't here at all. Now he hated her.

And it was all her fault.

To make matters worse, everything seemed to be working out so nicely for everyone else. Robb and Jeyne had a healthy baby boy named after their father, Ned, and Bran seemed to have a special girl he was interested in, and Sansa, it would seem, had a boyfriend as well.

She never talked about it to Arya, Sansa was nothing but polite. She would never be that unconscious or cruel, but that didn't mean that the fact that Sansa was happy when Arya was so obviously not, didn't hurt like a knife. Sansa might have never mentioned it, but she didn't need to. There were pictures up on the internet of them happily walking hand in hand, reminding Arya painfully of how she and Gendry once were. It seemed, to Arya, cruelly unfair.

To escape her mother, Arya found herself spending most of her time in her room, and when that wasn't safe, she went out and walked for hours in the freezing cold, taking in the sunken feeling of every thing, the dark chill settling under her skin and into her bones, staying there for hours long after she had returned home.

Mostly, she preferred the warm, dark solitude of her room.

It was one of those such days that someone had come to see her. To her disbelief, Arya heard Hot Pie's voice at the door, talking with her mother. Normally, Arya would have stayed in her filthy state, having not taken a bath in days, her make-up smudged, but it was Hot Pie, so that probably meant that whatever he saw he would report it back to Gendry. And though Arya was depressed, it didn't mean that she had lost her pride.

Like a flash, she quickly dove into the bathroom, fixing her make-up before running a comb through her hair and wriggling into a bra before Hot Pie came up the stairs, tapping on her door.

"Arya?"

She threw off her pajama shirt and wrenched into an old, black, long sleeved top. Snatching up her computer, she sat in her window seat, her laptop balanced on her knees.

"Come in."

Hot Pie looked no different from months ago, other than the fact that he wore an uncharacteristically caring look on his face. In his hands he carried what looked like her favorite dessert; chocolate soufflé cake with a delicious carmel-toffee sauce.

"Hey," Hot Pie said awkwardly, taking in her room, which was worse than it had ever been. Arya pushed her hair out of her eyes.

"What do you want?" She snapped.

Hot Pie looked taken aback by her harshness and gibbered for a few minutes, as if unsure as to how to respond.

"I came to see you," Hot Pie said. "You haven't been around, and I wanted to see how you were. And to give you this."

He set the soufflé down on the only corner of her desk that wasn't piled high with stuff.

"Don't bullshit me," Arya said heartlessly. "Gendry sent you, didn't he?"

"No," Hot Pie said, but somehow, she wasn't quite convinced. "I came because I wanted too."

"Whatever," Arya said. "I can't talk long. I'm busy writing a paper."

Hot Pie let out a sigh.

"I just wanted to let you know that I miss hanging out with you," he said awkwardly. "I mean, you were always a pain in the ass, but it's weird not having you around."

Arya didn't say anything. There was nothing to say.

"And... And I also wanted to tell you that there's a party tonight," he said. "At the Forge. A little, pre-holidays type thing. And it'd be really awesome if you could come-"

"Will Gendry be there?" Arya said, cutting across him. Hot Pie sighed.

"Yes," he said, looking sad.

"Then I'm not going," she said viciously.

"Are things going that well for you and that other guy?" Hot Pie asked tentatively. Arya blinked. So Gendry had told him about her lie about Edric Dayne? She was surprised, it didn't seem like something he would admit to others about.

"Yeah I guess," Arya said, suddenly feeling a crushing sensation in her chest. "Listen, I really have to finish this paper. So if you could please-"

Her voice cracked.

Hot Pie didn't seem to notice. With an awkward grimace he turned apologetically and left, shutting the door behind him.

Arya sighed, putting her computer down and curling up into a ball in her window seat, burying her head in her knees and trying very hard not to let the tears that were squeezing at the base of her eyelids to fall down her face.

"Was that Hot Pie?"

She shot up, nearly hurting herself, to see Ned, who was down at home for the weekend, looking hopefully into her room.

"Is he staying for dinner?"

"No," Arya said, frowning. "He just left."

"No!" Ned said, coming into her room and looking upset. "I would have enjoyed his company."

"Dad," Arya said. "You hate Hot Pie."

"I don't hate him... Shouldn't you be at fencing practice?" Ned asked, realization suddenly snapping across his face.

Arya picked up her computer.

"I quit," she said, unable to look at him.

"You quit...?" Ned repeated, sounding thunderstruck.

There was a long pause as he let out a tremendous sigh.

"Arya put down the computer, we need to talk," he said, and to Arya's surprise, he didn't sound harsh or angry or any of that. He sounded defeated.

Maybe it was this that caused her to stop and put the computer down. Ned sat on her bed with a sigh, and then patted the place next to him. Awkwardly she stood, and then sat down next to her father, both of them looking at their hands.

"I want to apologize," Ned said, and Arya whipped her head to face him, shocked, "for the way I reacted. I should have never yelled at you like that, and I can see now that my actions made it impossible for you to come to me. I was angry, but I'm still your father, and I should have handled the whole situation better, and I'm sorry."

Arya blinked, unable to speak. She had never, not in a million years, expected this. She had thought that he would be the one demanding the apology.

"But Arya," he said, looking at her, and it struck her how old and exhausted he looked, "he's just a boy. It isn't worth it, you going to pieces like this."

Arya blinked.

"But Dad," she said, and she could feel her throat going dry as it often did before tears and gulped, "he wasn't just a boy. He was my best friend."

An understanding faded across Ned's face and his eyes, which were usually so hard and unreadable, turned soft.

"I know," he sighed. "I know."

There was a long silence.

"Arya," Ned said carefully, "did you... Did you and Gendry... Were you two... Intimate?"

Arya's cheeks flared red and Ned looked uncomfortable, but determined to know non-the-less.

She did not answer.

"It's all right," Ned said gently, placing his hand on hers, and Arya realized how much she had missed her parents, and their usual affectionate nature towards each other. "I won't get angry. I won't press charges. I just honestly want to know."

Arya didn't look at him.

"Yes," she whispered mortified. Ned sucked in a sharp breath. "But Dad, it really wasn't... It wasn't just sex, you know. And he didn't pressure me or any of that. He wasn't like that. He would have never even suggested doing something that I didn't want to do."

Ned didn't say anything, he didn't speak for a long time, just thought.

"You loved him, didn't you?" He said after a long time. Arya felt tears at her eyes just to think of it and blinked them back.

"I still do, Dad," she said brokenly, and with that she was crying, all her hurt and sadness and rage that had been buried for months bubbling up as Ned held her in his arms, gently stroking her hair and letting her have her cry.

When she was done, she broke away, mopping up her eyes and sniffing.

"Hot Pie came down here to invite me to a party tonight at the Forge," she admitted. "I said no because... Well because he'd be there."

Ned nodded, and then he took a deep breath, as if unsure about what he was going to say next.

"I think you should go," he said. "I think... Well I can't say I'm thrilled about it. But seeing you this unhappy is enough to break my and your mother's hearts. We can't bare to see you like this, Arya."

"You think I should go?" Arya repeated in utter disbelief.

"Yes," Ned said. "I'll ask you, please, to hold off with all the... Well at least wait until you're eighteen, which isn't too far away, to start up again with him, but yes. I think you should go make things right with Gendry."

Arya couldn't believe it. All at once, everything, all the horrible, ugly things she had been feeling, lifted and floated away. Her Dad was giving her a chance! A chance to make things right again!

A chance to get Gendry back.

Oooooooooooooooooooo

Gendry sat in the parking lot of the Forge, his lunch untouched, staring at the grey snow that was washed against the side of the road, black with dirt and slightly melted by the cold warmth of the day. It was freezing, and his ass probably had frostbite, but it didn't really matter. The cold was nice. It was numbing, and it was easy to get lost in his head, staring at the dark clouds and the trampled snow.

"Gendry!"

It was Yoren, signaling that his lunch break was over. Getting to his feet, Gendry pulled his jacket tighter around his shoulders and tucked in his scarf, his cheeks feeling burned from the cold. As he walked back inside, his breath came out in icy puffs, hanging in the air after him.

"You're going to die out there one day," Yoren said, and though he was still his harsh, blunt self, he had been kinder to Gendry. He probably felt bad. Everyone felt bad these days. "It's cold enough to freeze fire."

"You can't freeze fire," Gendry said, throwing his lunch away. "Any idiot knows that."

He took off his scarf and stalked off back to the car he was working on, its hood still propped open so he could work on the engine. He knew Yoren would be angry at him for being so rude, but he didn't care. He was tired of small talk, and of people telling him what to do and how to live his life.

"Hey."

He nearly had a heart attack, whipping around to see Hot Pie, who must have just gotten there, his face red with cold, standing near the car.

"You nearly made me piss myself," Gendry grumbled. "Didn't your mum teach you not to sneak up on people?"

"You're almost as nice as Arya was today," Hot Pie snapped.

Gendry's heart jolted into his throat. _Arya._

"Did you ask her?" He demanded, trying not to look as desperate as he felt. Hot Pie shook his head.

"She's not coming, mate. I asked her, but she won't go," he said apologetically.

"Did you tell her I was going to be there?" Gendry asked. Yes, unfortunately he did sound desperate.

"Gendry, she's not coming. She doesn't want to see you," Hot Pie said. "Face it, man, she's over you. You need to get over her."

Gendry leaned against the car, running his hands through his hair miserably.

"I can't," he said, not caring how pathetic he sounded.

"Well, you're going to have to," Hot Pie said heartlessly. "Mate, this is ridiculous. You've been moping for months, and it needs to end."

Gendry sighed. Hot Pie had a point.

"Look," Hot Pie said, "she's over it, she's moved passed it. It's high time you moved past it too."

"How?" Gendry asked. "How? I've tried, and it doesn't work!"

"Well..." Hot Pie said. "Arya's found someone else. Maybe it's time you found someone too."

**Will Arya reach Gendry in time? Or will it be too late? (if I could only make movie trailers for my chapters, that would be awesome lol)**

**I'll post another chapter soon, since I have some free time today and tomorrow, but I can make no such promises for the rest of the week. But... Like I've stated before, if I enjoy writing something, I tend to want to write on it for a long time. So we'll see**


	25. Chapter 25

**The reason I'm posting this story so fast is, to be honest, because I'm afraid I'll get tired of writing and then want to give up, which would be no fair to you guys. Also, I'm incredibly impatient, and hate waiting for things, and I think it's sort of unfair, you know, because when you read a book, you don't have to wait for the next chapter, you get to read it all in one big gulp. So, in essence, I really hate making you guys wait.**

_**Summary: In which Arya attends the party at the Forge and Gendry gets a surprise visit from Jon.**_

Arya smiled at her reflection in the mirror. It was good, to feel like herself again. It was like she had been a completely different person living in Arya's skin, walking around with her face and hair and eyes, but not really being her. And now, she not only felt like herself, she looked like herself too.

She had showered and washed away all the months of depression, scrubbing herself until her skin glowed pink. And then she had brushed and blow dried her hair, putting on make-up using the tips Sansa had taught her, and then dressed up (as much as she could for the cold). Black skinny jeans and one of his old t-shirts (it was cold outside, but the party would be warm). It was simple, but it was nice. It was nice to be happy again.

She could barely eat dinner she was so excited, but Ned had made her promise that she would, and so she did. She might have shoved the food down her throat, but at least she was there. And even thought Catelyn looked as unsure as Ned, she seemed to be happy that Arya looked so excited.

"It's good to see you smile again," she said.

The party was in full swing by the time she got there. Yoren's favorite music was blasting, and there were swirling lights and the sound of laughter and cheering drifting through the air, the beat of the music vibrating in the ground. Arya couldn't help but smile, because it seemed so much like home. And all this, the Forge, the music, the laughter, made her feel like herself again.

Grinning, her heart starting to swell happily, she did her very best not to run and burst into the Forge in all haste. No, tackling Gendry was probably not a good idea.

Instead, she walked calmly to the Forge and opened the door, nearly blasted off her feet by the overwhelming music and the smell of alcohol. She wondered if Yoren was drunk yet, but then brushed it off. Of course he was drunk. The party had been on at least a half an hour.

She pushed through the fevered crowd, looking everywhere for Gendry. It was quite a crush. There were people packed in like sardines, all singing and shouting and drinking and laughing. It was overwhelming, but in a good way. It was strange to be around so many people when she had spent so much time shunning society.

After a good deal of time looking for him, she was beginning to fear that he wasn't there. Maybe he had heard she wasn't coming and had stayed home.

And then she saw him.

Her hand shot up, as if to wave, a step behind what her eyes were taking in, her lips jumping into a half-smile, her heart, for a split second, leaping merrily in her chest. But that all turned to ice, hard, cold, freezing ice, as the world stopped and began to tilt, her brain rushing with an ear-splitting silence, loud enough to waken the dead.

Gendry was leaning down, his body curved against another girl, his hands holding her to him as he kissed her lustily, passionately, their heads turning in a battle of lips and tongues.

Arya felt her lungs shrinking, her throat burning as though someone had set flame to it, and realized that she hadn't been breathing. She couldn't breath. And then she could, and she was, taking quick, feverish gulps of breath, panic gurgling in her throat as her mind spun in disbelieving.

_This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening._

But it was.

Even as she opened and closed her eyes, no matter how many times she tried to blink it away, Gendry was still there, and the girl was still with him.

She stumbled backwards, bumping and blending into the crowd, noise crashing in her ears, falling away from him. Away. Away.

She ran into the wall of the Forge and slid down, stunned, unable to process anything. Was it possible for someone to feel this much internal pain? It couldn't be, and yet there she was, living, breathing, while her insides ripped to shreds.

She brought her head to her knees, curling up into a ball, trying to block out the world, to clear her head so that she could do something, anything. So that she could get to her feet and get away without shaking so much, tears leaking from her eyes, threatening to transform into a waterfall.

_And it's all my fault too._

"Arya?"

It was Hot Pie.

"Arya? Jesus! Are you okay?"

How could she be okay? Her heart was broken.

"Arya?"

And then... All in one, great rush, it was like she had no heart at all. As though it had just slipped from the cavern in her chest and was gone, leaving only emptiness.

"I'm fine," she said, pulling herself to her feet. Hot Pie looked uncharacteristically concerned.

"You're been crying," he said, pointing to her face.

"I'm not anymore," Arya said coldly. "I'm fine."

"Shit. Jesus, you didn't see-"

"See?" Arya said sharply, raising her eyebrows. "See what?"

Hot Pie didn't answer. He looked almost frightened.

"I'm sorry," she said briskly, "but I really have to go. It seems like it's a great party."

Hot Pie opened his mouth, as if to object, but she didn't give him time to. She didn't care what he had to say, what arguments he had to shit out. What lies would he tell anyway? How they wanted her there? How they _missed_ her?

No one missed her. Not Robb, not Sansa, not Jon and certainly not Gendry. No one had need for Arya Stark.

She was No One.

Oooooooooooooo

Gendry closed his eyes, trying to stop thinking so much. He shouldn't be thinking when he was kissing this girl. She was gorgeous too, all lips and tits and ass. But, even as she worked her tongue in his mouth, he just couldn't. He just couldn't get into it.

She snaked her hands up and then ran them through the back of his hair, and in that spark of a moment, all he saw was Arya. _Arya used to do that._

"I'm sorry," he said, pulling away from the girl. "I can't. I'm drunk. I need to go."

She looked surprised, but she had no time to respond because he was stumbling away from her, suddenly feeling crushed, unable to breath. He practically threw people to the ground in his effort to get away, to get out.

At last he broke away, banging open the door and tripping outside, slamming it shut behind him. He closed his eyes, his head spinning, and then opened them again to hear the sound of a cars wheels screeching, and a car that looked similar to Arya's sped away. But this was ridiculous. He was seeing her every where. It was probably the alcohol.

All he knew was that he couldn't stay there. And so, half drunk and falling all over himself, he took the bus home.

He staggered into his apartment and collapsed on the couch, staring up at the ceiling which was starting to tilt. He could already feel his hangover coming on, and he knew that he would probably throw up soon, but he was too tired to think. He was too tired for anything. The insides of his eyelids itched and his tongue felt like it was made of rubber.

But he feel asleep all the same.

He was having the dream again. The one where he and Arya were in his flat, having just made love, laying in his bed, laughing and talking. And all he could think was that there was something bad in the closet, and that it was going to come out at any moment. And he told Arya, and she just laughed at him, like she always did, and got up to go check. And he watched her walk inside, and then the door slammed shut, and when he ran up and opened, it, she was gone.

_BANG! BANG! BANG!_

Gendry jolted awake, heart beating wildly and covered in a sheen of cold sweat, his entire body shaking. He hated that nightmare, because every time he had it, it always felt so real.

"GENDRY! GENDRY I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE! OPEN UP OR I'LL BREAK THE FUCKING DOOR OPEN!"

Gendry sat bolt up right, his head swimming. What on earth...?

_BANG!_

This time, there was the sound of a foot hitting the door. Not about to pay for a repaired door, Gendry leapt to his feet, stumbling forward and hastily unlocking the door.

It burst open, nearly sending him flat on his back, but suddenly Jon Stark's hands were on the collar of his shirt, yanking him forward.

"WHERE IS SHE?" Jon roared. "IS SHE WITH YOU?"

"What?" Gendry sputtered, completely at a loss as to what was going on.

"ARYA!" Jon shouted, and he looked close to madness. "WHERE'S ARYA?"

"I don't know," Gendry said, wrenching away from Jon's grasp and stumbling backwards. "I haven't seen her in months. She's probably with her new boyfriend."

"Boyfriend?" Jon spat. "She doesn't have a boyfriend!"

"But I thought..." Gendry said. "Wait... What's going on? What's going on with Arya?"

Jon looked wretched.

"She's gone," he said brokenly. "Her clothes, her money, her car, everything. Gone."

**Only a few more chapters to go, three or four I'd say. **

**Fun fact: as I was writing this, I listened to my favorite song ever, called 'Love' by daughter. Idk I just thought it fight how Arya felt after seeing Gendry with another girl perfectly.**

**ALSO: I was scrolling tumbler and saw that someone had put up the link to my fanfic and I nearly peed myself from happiness. And I wanted to say THANK YOU! You guys are so awesome! Thank you all so much for your awesomeness! Like seriously so many feelings.**


	26. Chapter 26

**I kind of just post this how I want, and I have literally had no life for the past two days. I was going to just wait until tomorrow to post this chapter, but why make you guys wait? It seems silly.**

_**Summary: In which all the Starks form a search party and Gendry thinks he might know where Arya is.**_

__"This is all my fault."

Jon slumped down onto the couch, burying his head in his hands. They had spent the entire morning searching everywhere, looking for Arya, but she was no where to be found. She had left her car in the Forge parking lot, and must have taken the bus somewhere, because they had left no leaf unturned in that area, and no Arya. Once more, she had taken her money and most of her clothes. Unlike Sansa, it appeared that Arya had planned this quite well and had no intention of being found.

Everyone, including Gendry, had decided to split up. They called Sansa, who stayed at her university in case Arya showed up, but when she did not, Sansa decided it was best to come down and look for clues. Robb and Jeyne both went down to King's Landing to ask around, and Bran and Rickon combed the parks and all of Arya's weird hangouts that she had enjoyed going to as a kid, while Catelyn searched the malls and cinemas. Jon and Gendry had joined forces combing the streets and trying to put their heads together to think of new places to look.

It was mid day, and after six hours of searching, they had all regrouped at Winterfell, all with the same result. No Arya.

"No," Gendry sighed, sitting next to him, "this is my fault."

"Yeah, what did happen? We thought she was with you," Bran said, frowning.

Gendry sighed, feeling extremely uncomfortable. His discomfort wasn't hindered by the fact that he had a dozen of angry Starks glaring at him.

"Well, obviously she wasn't," he said, scratching at the back of his head, trying to think of the best way to say, 'yeah, sorry about that, you know, macking on some other girl and breaking your sisters heart.' Somehow, there just seemed like there _wasn't_ a best way.

"I thought Dad said he let her go to that party," Robb said with a frown. "Were you not there?"

Gendry let out a sigh and closed his eyes.

"I was... I was trying to get over her," he said honestly. "I knew though, I knew I never should have kissed that girl."

There was a collective sucking of air from Sansa, Robb, Bran and Jeyne, who all wore different expressions on their faces. Jeyne and Robb looked sympathetically apologetic, while Bran and Sansa looked thoroughly annoyed.

"She must have seen," Gendry said brokenly. "Or else she would have never... Had I only known she was there... She would have never done this if it wasn't for me."

The guilt ached in the pit of his stomach.

"No," Jon said, looking grave. Unlike the rest of his family, he had practically strangled the truth out of Gendry on Gendry's doorstep hours before, and so the news of Gendry kissing some other girl was not a stranger to him. "No, this is my fault. I... I sort of freaked out on her, I think. I said some things I shouldn't have."

"We all said some things we shouldn't have," Ned said kindly. "I more than most."

"Still, that's no excuse for running away," Bran said with a frown.

"You weren't there, when we found out," Jon snapped, leaping to Arya's defense. "You don't know what it was like for her."

"Wait... You found out? What are you talking about?" Gendry demanded, feeling like he was missing something very important. Arya had never mentioned, not once, not even when they broke up, that her family had found out. But now... Well now Jon's violent behavior before made perfect sense. He wasn't angry because he suspected Arya might still have feelings for Gendry, he was angry because he knew she did.

"Well yes," Jon said, looking at Gendry like he was stupid. "Of course we did. That's why she broke up with you."

Gendry felt his head spinning, and he knew that no amount of coffee would cure this sort of headache.

"But... But she told me that she had found someone else," he said stupidly.

"Well then she lied," Robb said in a matter-of-fact voice.

"We should have never forced her," Jon groaned into his hands. "We should have talked it out, or _something_."

"Wait you forced-"

"I agree," Ned said, putting a hand on Catelyn's shoulder. "We should never have treated Arya the way we did. It wasn't fair."

"She needed me," Jon said feebly. "And I was too proud and too righteous to see it."

"She should have told us!" Sansa spoke up from the other side of the room. "If she had told us, we wouldn't have been so angry!"

"That's what I said," Gendry grumbled.

"And don't you start," Sansa snapped. "How could you be so stupid?"

"How could I be so stupid?" Gendry shot back. "You were the one who told me she had a crush on me!"

"Yes!" Sansa shouted, exasperated. "Because I thought it was cute! I didn't think you'd actually take it seriously!"

"Cute?" Gendry said indignantly. "She's not a little kid."

"Gendry's right," Jon said quietly, cutting off Sansa's retort. "She's not a little kid anymore, she hasn't been for a long time. He's just the one who noticed it first."

There was a long, contemplative silence.

"All I could see was my little sister," Jon sighed. "I couldn't even think of her like that, growing up."

"Neither could I," Robb agreed.

"I should have come down," Sansa said, sounding close to tears. "She was so depressed. I should have come down and tried to help her."

"She was depressed?" Gendry asked, bewildered. Jon, apparently, in his frenzy to find Arya had left a lot out.

Everyone looked grave.

"I've never seen Arya like that," Bran said finally. "She was like a totally different person."

Gendry sat back, in shock. And suddenly, he felt overwhelmingly guilty. Why didn't he fight for her? Why didn't he know something was wrong? He should have called, or at least stayed her friend. How could he have been so selfish?

"We should have stood by her," Jon said softly, staring into his hands, "not drifted away."

"We're a family," Robb said in agreement. "When one wolf is wounded, the pack helps heal the wound, not make it worse."

"Could you be any more cheesier, Robb?" Bran asked. "I'm starting to gag."

Robb made a face likened to someone who had found a bug in their salad.

"Robb's right," Ned said, and for the first time in what seemed like a long time, he looked like he was trying to bite back a smile. "Even if his delivery was a bit overdone."

"I thought it was a good analogy," Robb said, looking sullen.

"It was, dear," Jeyne said with a smile, patting his arm in a reassuring way as she rocked their baby boy in her arms, who was, by some strange miracle, fast asleep.

"Look," Gendry said, pulling in their focus. "I know that each one of us feels bad for what happened, but guilt isn't going to help us find her."

Everyone nodded.

"I just have no idea where she could be," Catelyn said, looking exhausted, her eyes hollow and puffy from crying. "We've searched _everywhere_."

"Obviously not everywhere," Rickon pointed out. "Or we would have found her by now. She can't really jump off the planet, can she?"

"I wouldn't underestimate her," Ned said with an affectionate and wary sigh.

"What is it with you Stark girls and running away?" Gendry asked. Sansa gave him an annoyed look, but then she sighed, apparently tired of being angry.

"I don't know," she said thoughtfully. "I just wanted to get away I suppose. To clear my head. To go somewhere I'd be safe."

"Safe," Gendry repeated, thinking very hard. "But... Well for Arya there's no place safe anymore, is there?"

"I suppose you're right," Sansa said with a frown. "Well... If there was no place safe... Then I suppose I'd want to go someplace where I felt happy. Someplace that-"

She was cut off my Gendry's gasp as he bolted to his feet, an idea suddenly clicking in his head.

"I think I know where she might be," he said.

"Where?" Jon demanded, leaping to his feet as well. "I'll come with you!"

"No," Gendry said firmly yet gently. "I think I'd better go at this alone."

Jon looked upset, but he seemed to understand. Biting his lip, he nodded.

"I think I'll need your car though," Gendry said. "From what I've experienced, it's probably going to be a long trip."

**Ahhh only two more chapters to go! (one plus the epilogue)**

**Bittersweet? I don't know, but you guys have been amazing! Thank you again for all the lovely reviews**


	27. Chapter 27

_**Summary: In which this fic comes to an end**_

The sky was fading dark when he arrived in Braavos. Everything was basked in a blue-grey, the color slowly sapping from everything as the sun sunk into the horizon, washing the world in shadows. The white cliffs no longer looked white, the sky no longer warm and welcoming. Just like at home, winter had come.

He was beginning to wonder if she would even be there, and that maybe he should find a room for the night and search the next day. The probability of her being out this late was low. But somehow... There was a nagging deep within him, and he knew that he wouldn't be happy, or be able to sleep, unless he checked.

He pulled into the parking lot of the beach to see no cars there. It was empty, which wasn't surprising for the cold weather. Zipping up his leather jacket, Gendry turned off the car and got out, instantly gasping against the sharp, freezing winds coming off the water. It was so cold, there was even frost covering the white rocks of the beach, which, in the dull light of early night, had turned a dark grey.

He looked up, scanning the beach and feeling his heart grow empty, for there really was no one there, when his eyes alighted on a dark figure, sitting what looked like exactly the spot that he had sat in a few months back.

Gendry stumbled towards her, nearly falling flat on his face, not letting himself hope until he got closer, but then, as he did, slipping on the rocks as he went, he knew, with certainty, that is _was_ her. It was Arya.

He stopped short a few paces from her.

In his momentary state of glee, he hadn't had a proper look at her, and now that he was closer, he was shocked at what he saw.

If he had not known her so well, he might not have recognized her. She had died her brown hair a dark, clumpy black, and dressed herself in black as well. Her pants were ripped, her hoodie dirty, and, the most surprising thing of all, she had a cigarette between her fingers, its tip drifting smoke in the rushing air.

If she had heard him, she ignored him, taking the hand with the cigarette and bringing it to her lips, inhaling, and then letting out a long, slow exhale.

"Arya?"

It wasn't meant to be a question, but she just looked so different, and he hadn't been expecting this drastic change at all. And it frightened him. It was like she had shed off her entire being. Like there was no Arya.

But, despite the fact that she might not have looked very much like Arya, she was Arya, and she turned around, in spite of herself.

Gendry gasped allowed.

It was her face that had changed the most. Make-up caked her eyes, jet black and coal, turning their usual sparkling grey lifeless. And there was just something about her face, something about her expression, that had just lost all her youthfulness and vitality.

"I was wondering when you were going to find me," she said, expressionless, sounding almost amused. And then she turned around and took another inhale from her cigarette.

"Arya," he breathed, unable to say anything else.

She didn't respond, merely stared out at the dark waves rolling in, the last hint of sunlight riding on their surface as they crashed into the land in a shower of white mist.

"Arya... What have you done? Your hair... Your clothes... You hate cigarettes!" He sputtered, his mind whirling.

"I _used_ to hate them," she said, taking another drag. "I don't anymore."

"Look," Gendry said, shaking his head, "Arya, I've come to take you home."

"Why?" She asked bitterly. "Because you missed me so much?"

He blinked, shocked about how hard, cold, and unforgivable she was. She didn't even bother to turn around and look at him.

"Your family's worried sick," Gendry snapped. "Jon, Robb, Sansa, your parents! They've all been out looking for you all day. You really freaked them out!"

"I doubt it," Arya said softly.

"Don't be such a child," Gendry snarled, angry with her. "You brought this on yourself-"

She whipped around and glared at him so fiercely he felt his throat snap closed. Her eyes swam with a furious hurt.

"Go. Away," she hissed. "Go fuck off back to where you came from, and tell my parents that I'm fine. I don't need them anymore, I don't need anyone."

"You're obviously not fine-"

"What I am is none of your business!" Arya screamed, leaping to her feet. "You fucked me, and then fucked me over! And I'm done with you!"

"You were the one who broke up with me!" Gendry shouted back. "You were the one who broke my heart! You could have told me the truth!"

"You would have made it worse!" She cried. "You would have tried to talk to my parents or your Dad-"

"I deserved to know!" He roared. "I loved you! I deserved to know the truth!"

Suddenly, to was as if Arya's anger had evaporated. A mask closed over her face and she sank back on her heels, shaking her head... And smiling.

"You liar," she said, laughing darkly. "You're so full of shit."

"Don't call me a liar," Gendry snarled through gritted teeth.

"I'll call you what you are," Arya shot back nastily.

"I am not a liar," Gendry said angrily. "You're the liar! You're the one who said you had found someone else!"

"You are a liar," Arya said, her eyes dark with fury.

"I am not!"

"Then why did you say that you loved me when you kissed another girl?" Arya shouted. "When you put your tongue in her mouth and ran your hand over her ass? Hmmm? Was it your love for me that made you do this?"

"Yes! No!" Gendry bellowed back, grabbing at his hair as he tripped over the words tumbling out of his mouth. "I was trying to get over you! That's why I did it! I wanted to get you out of my head but... But it didn't work."

She stopped short, staring at him, and stood frozen for a long, piercing period of silence. She took a shuttering breath, blinking rapidly. Then a tear rolled down her face and she wrenched away, as if she could not bare to have him look at her.

"Arya," he said, taking a deep breath and deciding that he should just say it. Now, when it mattered the most. "I still love you."

She shuttered visibly, and her shoulders began to shake.

"I'm so, so sorry," he said softly, wanting to reach out to her, but unsure as to whether he should, or could.

"No," she said, and when she turned around, her voice was thick from the tears that ran down her face. "I'm the one that's sorry. This is all my fault."

"Oh," Gendry said kindly. "Arya, no. It's no one persons fault. I think everyone's to blame for what happened."

"I couldn't do it," she sobbed, taking a shaking hand to wipe the snot from her face. "I couldn't stand there and watch... And watch..."

And suddenly she was in his arms, her cigarette falling in the cracks between the rocks, sobbing, burying herself into him. And all he could think about, as he closed his eyes, is how much he had missed her. Her body against his, the comfort of her warmth, the sound of her voice, everything.

"I missed you," he said softly into her hair. She sniffed.

"I missed you so much," she whispered, squeezing her eyes shut. "Every day felt worse and worse."

"I know," Gendry echoed, recalling the past few months. "I know."

They stood there like that for a long time, clinging to each other as the wind howled against them, the last bit of light slowly dragged away with each exploding wave. The cold sang around them, screeching, but still they stood there, standing and staring out at the vast and endless ocean.

Together again at last.

Oooooooooooooooooooo

When Gendry guided her back to his car, it was clear that she was exhausted. She could barely give him directions to where she had been staying, some creepy hostel called 'The Faceless Man' (Gendry just knew he was going to have nightmares about it). And after he had finally gotten all her stuff back (those dudes really were sketch, he was probably lucky to get away alive), it was pretty late. They hadn't even pulled onto the main road when Arya drifted off, curled towards him, her face slack and peaceful.

Gendry gave her parents a quick call, and had to deal with a few very awkward minutes of talking to a crying Catelyn, who was asking a million questions, while he heard Ned in the background, sounding like he was trying to get the phone.

After he hung up, the car was drowned in silence, the only sound coming from Arya, whose breathing was soft and deep.

Gendry sighed, his mind spinning, rather exhausted himself. It had been a very trying day. It was a strange sensation, Gendry mused, after feeling so many different emotions in a short period of time, he was left scattered. He supposed that was how Arya felt now, her body and heart exhausted, unable to feel anything else, and so, as a result, shutting down. He wished he could shut down. Sleep would be a gift now.

But as it was, he had a duty to preform. He had to return Arya to her parents and her family, who were probably all still at Winterfell, and all still awake too, waiting for her.

It was odd, Gendry thought, looking over at Arya again, how she had felt so unloved, when in reality he had never seen a family so close. _But that's probably what made it all the worse, _Gendry thought to himself. She had trusted them to be there for her, and when they hadn't been, it had probably come as a shock. It was different for him because, besides his mother, he had never had anyone to rely on for that sort of support.

The trip back was faster than the trip there, or maybe it wasn't, but it always seemed that way. What had dragged on for hours before, zipped by in what seemed like minutes now. Gendry was surprised when they pulled up the street towards Winterfell, because it seemed like they shouldn't have been there so soon, but they were.

The lights were all on, and as he pulled up, he saw Sansa in the window, and what looked like Jon, but Jon was gone in an instant, and as he pulled the car into park, Gendry saw why.

"She's sleeping!" He hissed as Jon wrenched open the door, looking like he might collapse from relief.

"Oh," Jon said, drawing back, unable to hide the flicker of disappointment the flashed across his face.

"Help me with her bags though, would you?" Gendry asked, getting out and going around to Arya's door. Jon nodded, and in a flash he was opening the trunk and getting out her bags.

Rather than wake her up, Gendry gently guided his hands under her, wrapping her close to him as he picked her up, her sleeping body warm against his. Jon shut her door for Gendry and they both walked towards the house where everyone stood vigilant at the door, waiting.

"Oh thank god," Catelyn said weakly, and Ned wrapped his arms around her in a comforting sort of way. Everyone else gave a collective sigh of relief, everyone except Sansa, that was.

"What did she do to her hair?"

Gendry looked down at Arya's hair, which, in the light of the doorway, he saw had not been died well at all, some clumps being still brown, while others being coal black. It looked like it hadn't been brushed either.

"We'll fix it later," Jon said, pushing past her and into the house, looking annoyed. "I'm just glad she's safe."

"Well obviously I am too!" Sansa said, following him in, and before Gendry knew it, there was a full on, Stark-sibling squabble going on.

Sighing and shaking his head, Gendry pushed passed them, his arms starting to burn, despite the fact that Arya wasn't really all that heavy. Adjusting his arms so that she rolled against him, her hands cradled into his chest, he carried her up the stairs and down the hall to her room.

It was dark, but there was a pleasant glow from the moon outside, coating everything in a silvery light. As carefully as he could, Gendry walked over to her bed and laid her down, gently resting her head on her pillow. He took her blankets and tucked them in around her, her hand still curled out close to her face. Sighing he looked at her, a half-smile tugging at his lips and he turned to go.

"No-"

He whipped around, surprised, but there she was, wide awake, her arm stretched out to him.

"Please don't leave me."

Her eyes were wide and pleading, vulnerable.

Gendry sensed someone at the door and he turned to see Jon with her duffle bag, looking at them, Arya's arm still held out to him. And then, he looked back at Gendry and nodded, as if finally giving them his consent.

Softly, he set her bag down and then, turned to leave.

"It's good to have you back, Arya," he said softly, turning back and giving his sister a smile. She smiled back, and then he was gone.

Gendry reached out and took her outstretched fingers, sinking down onto the bed and then turning to face her, their fingers laced between their curved bodies.

"Don't leave again," she said softly.

"I won't if you don't," he replied, and she gave him a sad little smile.

"It's a deal then."

"As my lady wishes."

"On second's thought, maybe you should leave," she said, rolling her eyes, but her fingers tightened on his, pulling his hand so that it was cradled close to her body, and then she smiled. And he smiled back.

**Is it bad that I've been putting off writing this chapter because I don't want this to end (I mean, I still have the epilogue but... Well this is the last chapter)? I've loved writing for you guys, and writing this fic! It's been awesome!**

**Song I listened to while writing this (fun fact?): Don't go by Rae Morris and Don't you worry by Lucy Ros**


	28. Epilogue

_**Summary: In which five or so years have passed**_

__"Get up."

Gendry groaned beneath her, his eyes fluttering open, and then he jumped, the stupidest expression of half-asleep terror on his face before he scowled, groaning again, and rolled into his pillow, nearly sending her flying. But Arya was quick, and not set off so easily.

"Don't do that," he moaned, pulling his pillow over his head. Arya wrenched it off him, throwing it over her shoulder.

"Go away," he whined. "I'm tired."

"What?" Arya teased, leaning forward and trailing kisses up his arm to his shoulder. "Did I ware you out last night?"

"Go away," Gendry snapped again. "Let me sleep, wench."

Arya laughed.

"Go brush your teeth," she said. "I want to fool around."

Gendry turned around and popped an eye open. Arya grinned. There. That had caught his attention.

"I hardly think that's a good idea," he said, frowning. "Isn't today the day you get married?"

Arya gave him an annoyed huff.

"I thought we weren't going to discuss that," she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You've already spent the night here, which was a bad idea from the beginning, and now you want to fool around? We're going to get caught," Gendry pointed out.

"You're such a spoil sport," Arya snapped.

"I just don't want your husband coming in here and taking my head off," Gendry said, grabbing another pillow and putting it under his head.

"Fiancee," Arya corrected him at once. He raised his eyebrows.

"Fiancee," he repeated. "Won't he notice you're gone?"

"I don't know," Arya said, smirking, "he's pretty stupid."

"Well I wouldn't know," Gendry said, trying to put the pillow over his head. "Nor do I care. Now go away."

"No," Arya said, slowly sliding her hand down his naked torso and then down his pants. Gendry's eyes snapped open.

"Do you mind?" he asked, jerking his head around, "I'm trying to sleep here."

"Oh yeah," Arya said sarcastically. "You're really convincing me."

Suddenly, Gendry whipped around, grabbing her hand and sat up, his face inches from hers, and then he flipped her over, dipping his head down and kissing her roughly.

"When did you brush your teeth?" She demanded when he pulled away and he laughed, looking thoroughly pleased with himself.

"An hour ago," he said, grinning, "you were asleep."

"You must think you're so clever," Arya said, not impressed in the least. Okay, so she was a little bit impressed, but he didn't need to know that.

"Oh I don't know," Gendry said, reaching under her shirt and running his fingers over her bare breast.

"Don't play around," Arya snapped, frowning. "As you clearly pointed out, we don't have all day."

"Yeah," Gendry said, pulling off her shirt and then leaving wet kisses on and between her breasts, trailing downward. "We wouldn't want your husband to wake up and find you gone now would we?"

"It'd sort of be a bummer for everyone if I missed the wedding," Arya said, trying to keep her voice steady as he lifted his head up, tugging at her underwear and then sliding his hand between her legs, causing her to gasp.

"Fuck that feels-"

But whatever it felt like was to remain a mystery, as Arya's phone screeched, ringing as loudly as a screaming monkey.

"Shit!" She exclaimed, and, nearly throwing Gendry to the floor, she dove for her phone, snatching it up and answering as fast as she could.

"Hello?"

"Arya! Where are you?"

It was Sansa.

"Oh," Arya said, trying to think of a convincing lie, "I was just out getting coffee."

The other line was dead silent.

"You're at Gendry's again, aren't you?" Sansa demanded, sounding very, very annoyed. Arya winced as she pulled her shirt over her head and Gendry looked appropriately wary.

"No," she said at once, far too quickly.

"Arya," Sansa growled, sounding testy. "Of all days! This is your wedding day!"

"Which is why I wanted to have an evening wedding," Arya said. "Don't worry about it, we have plenty of time."

There was a crunching noise, and Arya guessed Sansa was trying very hard not to strangle her through the phone.

"We've been over this a million times," she snarled, "you know how I feel-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Arya said, waving her off. "I get it. Save me the morals speech for tomorrow, or never."

"You two have the rest of your lives to shag!" Sansa snapped. "Don't let it ruin your wedding! And Gendry better just come along with you, I don't want him to be late, or hear that he's been tinkering with a car and got all dirty-"

"I do have some control, you know!" Gendry shouted at the phone from across the room.

"I'll see you in an hour," Sansa snapped. "Don't be late."

And then the phone clicked off.

"Drat," Arya sighed. "I'll have to shower. Sansa ruins everything."

"It is your wedding day, after all," Gendry sighed, lying back on the bed, "she just wants it to be perfect."

"It's _our_ wedding day you twat," Arya said, rolling her eyes as he laughed.

"Yeah, and about that cheep shot you threw about your husband being stupid-"

"Fiancee," Arya corrected.

"Husband," Gendry snapped. "And don't even try to argue with me."

"Oh ho ho," Arya said drily, stretching and then taking off her shirt. "Trying to lay down the law now that you're making an honest woman of me?"

"Let's face it," Gendry said, getting up out of bed and coming to her, cupping her breasts in his hands. "You'll never be an honest woman."

"Stop," Arya snapped, pushing him off her. "You heard Sansa. We have to be there in an hour, and we both have to shower."

"We could shower together," Gendry said, grinning. "It'll save time."

"Oh yeah," Arya said, as if remembering something. "That's why I'm marrying you. That and your abs."

"And you're marrying me because you love me," Gendry said, pulling her to him and then kissing her.

"Yeah," Arya relented. "And that too. Now get in the shower."

"As my lady commands!"

And then he ran into the bathroom, as she chased after him, yelling abuse, but laughing all the same.

**The end.**

**Okay... So this was actually going to be my first, and last endeavor on fanfiction. But... I might be persuaded to write more, if you guys would want me to. I have two ideas that I think would be fun/interesting to write.**

**For the first one I was thinking of doing another Modern AU (I really do write better in a modern voice, I have to admit), but this time, do it like, the entire plot (with heavy Arya/Gendry. Love this pairing) mob style. I don't know, I just feel like I could do a lot of funny/badass stuff with that. Like make it the wolves verses the lions, Ned being retired from the business, but then Rob calling him back in to be his right hand man, and all the Lannister incest fun. And then, pretty early on, I'd have Ned die like he does in the books (sorry Ned), and have Yoren take Arya and disguise her (not as a boy, since she'd be a teenager), and then ask Gendry to protect her, but Gendry really didn't get what he had bargained for. If I were to do that, I'd have to go through the books to make sure that I stayed in character and got certain plot points correct. But I dunno, it could be fun.**

**The second one would probably be a Ned/Cat story actually, as young people before the time of the books. I really think it would be cool to provide a backstory, mostly in Cat's perspective, of what Robert's rebellion was like, and how it was loosing Brandon and then having to marry Ned instead. It would sort of be like exploring the characters before they were characters in GOT, if that makes sense. Not many, it would seem, are Cat fans, but I really like her, I mean, she's mama Stark after all, and if nothing else she made some pretty kickass kids. And, I guess I could sort of really go for the whole arranged-marriage-angst thing, because they do fall in love in the end.**

**With both of those, though, I'd have to go through and read through the books again for accuracy's sake, which could take a little while. I'd give myself a month. But what do you guys think? Like those ideas? I might end up doing both simultaneously, but I'd like to hear what you guys have to think, so tell me your thoughts!**

**I also wrote out, a while ago, a little drabble one-shot for Arya and Gendry, but I hate it, and it'll have to be heavily revised, but if you wanted me to publish that in like, a couple days, I could do that too.**


End file.
